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8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 51/232 50 CHAPTER ONE: BLACK AS HELL, DARK AS NIGHT Steps Two and Three: Attributes and Abilities These steps are handled the same as they are in basic character creation. Players should keep their character’s concept and intended role in mind when choosingTraits. Members of the Tal’Mahe’Ra tend to be more focused in their duties and responsibilities. A soldier isn’t likely to deviate from combat-focusedTraits, and a thaumaturge is oftenfartoobusy todelve into espionage-relatedAbilities. A rival Sect infiltrator, however, hasfar more freedom to chooseTraits associatedwithherrolewithintheCamarilla, the Sabbat, or the Anarch Movement. Step Four: Advantages Backgrounds Contact with other supernatural denizens in the World of Darkness is more common with members of the Tal’Mahe’Ra than those belonging to other Sects. Supernatural Allies and Retainers take up a dot one lev- el higher than their human versions. The Tal’Mahe’Ra (as well as their Follower of Set and infernalist enemies) frequently utilize Cults (see sidebar). Alternate Identity (Required) The Sect’s existence is so guarded, every vampire in the Tal’Mahe’Ra possessesthis Background.It is very rare for evenneonatestohave lessthan2dots. ThisBackgroundis tiedtoa character’sadvancementwithintheTal’Mahe’Ra; it is unlikely an ancilla will advance to elder without increasing her Alternate Identity rating. Elders may have additional Alternate Identities, and at least one will be threedotsorhigher.SeraphimmaintainmultipleAlternate Identity ratings between three and five dots. Generation Tal’Mahe’Ra donotrecruittheweak.Whetherthrough powerful sires or past diablerie, most Tal’Mahe’Ra char- acters begin play at Tenth Generation. Purchasing this Background can therefore lower a character’sGeneration to a minimum of Fifth. With Storyteller permission, characters may begin at Thirteenth Generation, but do not gain any additional Background points. Herd (2 dots maximum) The Tal’Mahe’Ra frowns on the cultivation of personal mortal herds. Beyond the difficulty of maintaining larger herds for members who regularly travel to and from the Shadowlands, large groups of kine pose security risks.The New Background: Cult You are the leader or otherwise have control over a cult of your own. Due to their broad membership, Cults as a Background act as a combination of Allies, Contacts, Herd, and Influence, but when called upon are effectively one dot lower in each of those categories (a rating of 1 is effectively 0) and require twice the effort to build or accumulate. Lastly,members oftheSecthave a minimumonedot in True Black Hand Membership, which is mechani- cally identical to standard Black Hand Membership, thoughindicativeofbelonging totheTal’Mahe’Ra and not Sabbat-specific. The following Backgrounds are restrictedoralteredforTal’Mahe’Racharactercreation. Sect prefers its members to feed from communal herds from pooled backgrounds with other Hand members. While it is not strictly forbidden, it may become an issue with the seraphim should the characterpossess more than 2 dots ofthisBackground.(Restricted to 2 dots maximum at creation.) KindredmemberswiththeCultBackground,described above, may enjoy the benefit of a higher Herd rating, so long as the Herd is intertwined with the Cult. Mortal cultists are slavishly devoted to the Tal’Mahe’Ra and pose no risk to outside exposure. Mentor (Required for neonates) For neonates, a Mentor is a requirement. The Tal’Mahe’Ra elders guide theirnewadditionsintheSect’s policies,schemes and responsibilities.Thisrelationship is akin to sponsorship, though the Cainite assigned to shep- herd the neonate is not necessarily the one who proposed hisinclusion.Overtime,thisBackgroundeitherwithersto nothing or converts to Allies or Contacts. Some Kindred maintain the relationship when they become ancillae. Retainers Most ghoul servitors come from one of the three reve- nant linesthat have served theTal’mahe’Ra for centuries. Occasionally, a recruit may bring one or two previously bound ghouls with them, provided they pass the Sect’s rigorous vetting process.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 52/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 51 Agent (1pt. Title) The covert operatives of the Sect, agents specialize in infiltrating enemy organizations, providing cru- cial leverage and intelligence for the True Black Hand. Individual agents may never know why they’re asked to perform certain actions or get a particular piece of information, but the seraphim who see the larger picture know exactly which strings to pull to achieve the Sect’s agenda. For more information on Titles see the V20 Com- panion. Tal’Mahe’Ra Titles can be found on p. 27. Status (Restricted to ancillae, elders, and seraphim) Neonates may not possess Status (Tal’Mahe’Ra) until they have been deemed trustworthy. They may still retain previously-gained Statusin their previous Sect, aswell any Status gained prior to Tal’Mahe’Ra recruitment. Ancillae possess Status at one or two dots. Ancillae rarely achieve threedots before theybecome elders. Elders possess this rating at three to five dots. Seraphim possess this rating at five dots and up. Disciplines There is no additional restriction on the Disciplines a player may select for his character, with the exception of Vicissitude. It is a tenet ofthe Tal’Mahe’Ra to shelter and protect humanity from vampiric excess, butVicissitude has no purpose but transhumanism. The more monstrous or alien your body becomes, the more monstrous or alien you behave. Evolving the vampiric condition fosters a radical disconnect from humanity, allowing Cainites to forget their curse. Some characters may have it, but understand the social implications of the purchase. For more on Vicissitude, see p. 108. Virtues Tal’Mahe’Ra use Virtues in line with their Path of Enlightenment.NormalVirtueshave a freedot.Alternate Virtues begin at zero. Step Five: Final Touches Path of Enlightenment Cainites of the Tal’Mahe’Ra do not follow the Path of Humanity.Alternate Paths of Enlightenment are detailed in V20 beginning on p. 316. Most members follow either the Path of the Bones, the Path of Cathari, the Path of Lilith, the Path of the Scorched Heart, the Path of Self-Focus, the Path of the Hive, or the Path of Power and the Inner Voice. The Path of Lilith has grown in popularity in recent decades, whichhasledtothedeclineoffollowersofthePathofCaine. Cainitesrecruited from the Sabbat may follow a variant of the Path of the Bones known as the Path of Death and the Soul. They are mechanically the same. While no hard rule limits Path of Typhon adherents, it can cause massive bias within the Hand. Willpower Willpowermust be a minimum of 5.If a characterhasless than 5,the remainder must be purchasedwith freebie points or experience. Merits and Flaws Neonate characters, without exception, possess the Probationary Sect Member Flaw (V20, p. 493). They do not gain additional freebie points from this Flaw, nor does it count towards their maximum allowable freebie points gained from Flaws. When a neonate becomes an ancilla, this Flaw is removed without cost to the player. The Tal’Mahe’Ra are cautious in their selection of Cainites for recruitment. Serious personality defects are often enough for recruiters to pass on a candidate. However, things do occasionally slip through the cracks; the vetting system is excellent, but it is not perfect. Storytellers may wish to consider limiting selection of certain Merits and Flaws at character creation, notably Amnesia, Diseased, Fourteenth Generation, Fifteenth Generation, Guilt-Wracked, Impatient, Lazy, Lunacy, Narc, Soft-Hearted, Shy, Stereotype, Sympathizer, Thin Blood, True Faith, Unconvinced, Uppity, Victim of the Masquerade, and Weak-Willed. Tal’mahe’Ra Preludes Moreso than most characters, Tal’Mahe’Ra Kindred come with a lot of baggage attached. Their inclusion in the Sect implies a history worthy of not only notice but interest from the Tal’Mahe’Ra.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 53/232 52 CHAPTER ONE: BLACK AS HELL, DARK AS NIGHT The Storyteller may choose to explore vignettes in prelude scenes or she may choose to allow players to craft their character’s history themselves. Regardless of the method chosen, the players may wish to keep the following in mind, in addition to the standard prelude questions found in V20, p. 354: What have you been doing since your Embrace? Have you made allies you can trust? What enemies want you to meet Final Death? Are you on good terms with your sire, or did that relationship die? Do you have any blood bonds or Vimculum ties outstanding? Are you regnant, or are you thralled? Do you owe any favors? Are you owed any favors? What schemes did you put into play? Were you successful? What are your failures? What drew the attention of the Tal’mahe’Ra to you? Are you an influential member of your former Sect? Do you have a powerful or prestigious sire? Are you considered to be next-in-line for a position of power? Do you have a reputation as someone who can get things done? Are you a talented liar? Are you disaffected with Sect politics? Do you have regular contact with other supernatural creatures? Do you delve into forbidden lore, seeking to learn the truth? Did you stumble across the truth and fast-talk your way into proving yourself worthy? What qualified you for membership? In what field are you exceptional? How strong is your will? How strong is your stomach? How entrenched are you in the paradigms of your previous Sect? How did you prove your loyalty? What secrets has the Tal’Mahe’Ra uncovered in their investigations? What are your goals and motivations? How do you spend your time? Where do you see yourself in 50 years? 100 years? 500 years? Are you a big-picture planner, or do you focus more on small details? How do you plan to get yourself there? Do you intend to develop new skills and talents to assist you, or will you rely on your natural ability? What are your beliefs? Why did you turn from the Path of Humanity? Why did you choose the Path you follow? Do you believe in what the Tal’Mahe’Ra stands for? Do you believe in everything it does? What do you disagree with? Are you vocal in your dissent, or do you hold your tongue? WhatareyouractivitiesandtieswithintheTal’Mahe’Ra? If you’re a neonate, what kind of relationship do you have with your Mentor? If you are no longer a neonate, do you still maintain ties with your former Mentor? Has the relationship soured, or did you part on good terms? Do you have allies on whom you can count, or do you prefer to do things by yourself? What area of the Sect is your focus? What was your first mission like? Did you fail or succeed? Have you ever faced discipline or censure? If so, how do you feel about it? EEladrneinrg aBndespaensdtinsgExperience is coveredextensively inV20,beginningonp.122.There islikewise anexcellent system in place to cover creating elder characters, located in the sidebar on p. 79.However, a Storyteller mightwant toofferherplayersanalternatemethodfor creatingamore evenly-balancedgroup.Oncetherelativepowerlevelshave beendecided,playersshoulduse the appropriate template as listed below. Required Backgrounds are added to the character; they do not come out of the standard points offered for character creation. Neonates Generation: Tenth Age: 50-100 Character Creation: as per standard rules Required Backgrounds: Alternate Identity 2+, Mentor Merits/Flaws: Probationary Sect Member (effective) Ancillae Generation: Eighth to Tenth Age: 100-200 Attributes: 8/6/4 Abilities: 14/10/7 Disciplines: 7 Backgrounds: 10 (Alternate Identity 2+, Status (Tal’Mahe’Ra) 1-2+) Virtues: 7 Freebie Points: 18 Elders Generation: Sixth to Eighth Age: A 200-400 ttributes: 10/7/5 Abilities: 17/13/10 Disciplines: 10 Backgrounds: 15 (Alternate Identity 3+, Status (Tal’Mahe’Ra) 3+, Generation 2+) Virtues: 7 Freebie Points: 25

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 54/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 53 Seraphim Generation: Fourth to Sixth Age: 600+ Attributes: 12/8/6 Abilities: 20/16/13 Disciplines: 12 Backgrounds: 15 (Alternate Identity 5, Status (Tal’Mahe’Ra) 5, Generation 4+) Virtues: 7 Freebie Points: 35 Hand Paths of Enlightenment The following Paths are available to Black Hand char- acters, in addition to the Paths found in Vampire the Masquerade: 20 th Anniversary Edition. Via Hyron: The Path of the Hive Nickname: Abelenes Virtues: Conviction and Instinct Bearing:Justice.Abelenescarryanatmosphereofdivine retribution.Their bearing modifier affectsrollsto convince others of the righteousness of their actions. BasicBeliefs:Asshepherds,Abelenes have been tasked toguide andprotectCreationagainstdemonic influences. The true accursed and enemies to all of creation are the children of the Lightbringer: demons, devils, and fallen angels. These ancient intelligences, birthed before the Word of the One Above unleashed Creation, wait in slumber,trappedby theOneAbove.Should thesehorrors be awakened, Creation would be flayed of all life. The blasphemous titles of these entities are tremen- dously puissant, and each call uttered by infernaltongue rouses them further from rest. To ensure the preservation of this great duty of keeping the sleepers passive and trapped, the Methuselah Moloch developed Via Hyron for his disciples — the ancient ethos of the Baali Clan. To accomplish his work, Moloch consumed one of the sleepers, and it spoke in his soul with the voice of a swarm. The chittering clicks translated by Moloch gave unity to the Baali. He learned the secrets of the sleepers and how to ensure they remain dormant on the edge of existence. In order to maintain their slumber, the sleepers must be appeased through tireless efforts to flatter their hor- rendous dreams and desires. Chaos and destruction are the only lullaby that pacifies, and so a requisite balance is struck by the Abelenes: burn half the world or watch all of Creation erupt in flame. Though it revels in demonic trappings and profaning Christian iconography and text, Via Hyron is notinfernalistic. Infernalists are believed to be especially dangerous to the Abelenes. The names of the sleepers fuel infernal power, allowing them to patiently inch their way into Creation by devouring the souls of their supplicants. Therefore, all trace of their names must be erased from Creation.The misplaced faith of those corruptedtofollowLucifer’s churcheshas everrepelled the angels of the One Above and stunted humanity. The recently discoveredAbeleneHeresy (nearly stricken from the GuardedRubricsbut vouchsafedby theMolochimOldClan Tzimisce and Baali) enhanced Moloch’s original teachings. Thewritings contendthatwhenthe farmerCaine failed to sate the hunger of the One Above with his offering of herbs, grains, fruits, and flowers, his brotherAbelshowed him the way.Abel, the shepherd, ceased the beating heart and stained crimson the white coat of the most majestic goat in his flock in blood-offering to the One Above and was blessed for his sacrifice. Caine, seeing the path, wept as he lanced the heart of his brother Abel, sacrificing the first part of his joy with the branch of a pomegranate tree hewn from his unwanted oblation. The One Above cursed Caine, marking him and his progeny for all time to gain no sustenance from the Earth without sacrificing joy for toil. Revoking the curse of death levied on mankind in Eden, he resurrected Abel to an immortal angel of vengeance, tasking Abel to be his brother’sshepherd and cull from Caine’sflock to reclaim the blood his brother had stolen from him.Abel’s broken heartwasreplacedwith that ofthe beastAbel had offered. However, the One Above could not heal Abel’s sorrow despite theBeast tucked inAbel’s breast;the spiritualscar of Caine’s spear would perpetually wound him. Seeing his trickery in Eden undone, the fallen angel Lucifer, bringer of morning and herald of the sun, grew jealous and spiteful that a child from the tribe of Adam was shown immortal favor and station that he himself had lost. He cursed Abel to the night, so the light from the One Above (presaged by the Morning Star Lucifer) would scorch and burn him evermore. Abelenes believe that all vampires are children of the light, shadows cursed todarkness,angelsofvengeanceblessedbythe OneAbove, shepherdinghumanityandprotectingcreationagainstthe Children of the Night.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 55/232 54 CHAPTER ONE: BLACK AS HELL, DARK AS NIGHT The Ethics of the Path • Be the Angel of Vengeance. Exact the toll of Abel andretrievehisstolenbloodfromCaine’s children, like a shepherd shearing his flock. • Combat the authority of religion. Institutional worship and dogma are masks and forgeries for Lucifer’s church, including the Book of Nod. Only the Abelene creed holds the truth. The Molochim are the shepherds. • Always bewithin aNest. The Nestwithin theswarm of the Hive is the means of salvation to counter the infernal and demonic. • Vampires are shadows cast by the One Above. When the OneAbove shines into a pit of blackest gloom, shadows are the only darkness permitted to remain. • The Sacred Mission of the Molochim is the sword duty of all Abelenes. Keep the sleepers in dream at the expense of all else. • Listen to your Beast. The one above bestowed the Beast to his angels for a reason. Heed its counsel and release its fury when enraged. History ViaHyronwouldhavedeclinedintoobscuritywereitnotforthe Tal’Mahe’Ra and OldClanTzimisce inculcating theMolochim Baalito form the Order of Moloch.In 1998,the demonKupala awoke from its cage beneath the Carpathians. Molochim Baali flockedto themountainsinanattempttoquellthedemonback to slumber. Only a few escaped extinction. Though failing, the Baali were not alone in their assault; Old Clan Tzimisce fought to restrain Kupala as well. The few Baali survivors found much in common with their new allies and pledged themselves to the Old Clan, sharing the Path’s sacred mission. Via Hyron: Path of the Hive Hierarchy of Sins Rating Moral Guideline Rationale 10 Failing to ride the wave in frenzy The heart of Abel’s prized Beast was to him by the One Above. Its voice is sacred and unleashing its divinity protects his angels from assault. 9 Failing to staunch the in- fluence of institutionalized religion Throughout history, the deceiver, Lucifer, has twisted faith and clothed the spread of ignorance, bigotry, delusion, greed, and mayhem in the hypocrisy of religion. It is the duty of the Molochim to shepherd Caine’s flock. 8 Feeding on the children of Seth Reclaim Abel’s blood in vengeance from the builders, Caine’s chil- dren. Those living in harmony with Creation in the wild are not subject to retribution from the One Above. 7 Not actively pursuing safe knowledge of sorcery and the demonic Know thy enemy. Ignorance is darkness, and darkness is where the infernal hides. Blood sorcery is the sacrament in the arsenal against atrocity. 6 Refusing an opportunity to convert those seeking redemption The larger the hive, the greater the swarm. Those who have faced the infernal are hornets without a Nest waiting to be saved. Bind them through the blood and release them when they find shelter 5 Refusing to sing a lullaby to the sleepers The sleepers’ dreams are fueled by havoc and devastation visited upon Creation. Without fuel, the sleepers turn their attentions away from dreaming and seek to awaken. 4 Not being selective in a lullaby Undirected destruction that does not serve as fertilizer for new Creation to emerge is no better than an awoken sleeper. Shep- herd Creation by strategic application of violence and suffering. 3 Failing to enslave or extin- guish the demonic The One Above damned Lucifer and his children; their existence is forfeit. 2 Failing to cleanse the infernal Each utterance of a sleeper’s name and soul lost to the demonic stirs the sleepers from dream. 1 Failing to Nest Independence is the gateway to the infernal; Lucifer preys first upon individuals alone. Unity is the of the hive, isolation weakens the swarm. If leaving a Nest, find another.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 56/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 55 The Path went under serious revision by the Old Clan patrons. Its former ban on sorcerous practice of any kind was viewed as overly cautious and removed. The lack of its employment had crippled the Baali for millennia in theirwar andalmostdestroyedthementirely intheir battle against Kupala. The Ethics of the Path and its Hierarchy of Sins were reconstituted to adapt the demonological knowledge of the Old Clan and formalize the mythos of the Abelene Heresy — a controversial 14 th century Latin document thought to be derived from older sources un- known and considered dubious by the Rawi. Current Practices Theswarmneedstoendure;toendure,thesleepersmust remainimprisoned.DisciplesofMolochstudydemonology as a meanstoanend, collecting vast amounts offorbidden knowledge to learn the hidden resting places and true names ofthe sleepersthatthey may bettersupplicate them into perpetual dreaming.Abelenes arenoted occultists and incredibly skilledbloodsorcererswhocongregateinNests, fluctuating groups ofthree to ten in membership,with no central authority. The Path itself was rebuilt to espouse the precepts of the Order of Moloch and all followers of the Path are, without exception, members of the Order. As it stands, the precepts of the Path are still in flux. A few artifacts from the previous Path still exist, but as its new patrons continue to exert influence, the Path of the Hive could become extinct, evolving into something new. Description and Followers Abelenes seem distant and inhuman to those outside of the Path.Theneeds and demands ofthe swarm (members of theOrder of Moloch) guide thePath’s adherents.Followers do not possess a “hive mind,” but do focus on issues related to the Path within Nests. Members are demonologists, not infernalists. They do not submit to the powers of Hell or relinquish authority over their own souls. Abelenes strive to acquire the secrets of the demonic and either enslave, eradicate, or steal power from demons. Acolytes of the Path actively seek converts, choosing candidates who have been touched by the demonic and resisted its influence. FoNle lsotswofiAnbgeltenhees sPupaptohrt one another and keep each other in check to make sure none on the Path slip into infernalism. Unanimous vote guides the direction of a Nest,regardless of age orstrength ofthe blood held by any member. Any within a Nest who disagree with a course of action chosen by the majority are required to leave. This method of governance guarantees that dangerous undertakings are rarely pursued without the strength of numbers to support a goal. Given the potential risks of infernalism,the refusalto allowindividual leadership lim- its the liability of more powerful Abelenes from eclipsing their peers, curbingpossible infernalistshidingwithinthe Order from rapidly seizing control and spreading their filth throughout an entire Nest. Common Abilities: Those following Via Hyron are eOxpected to be devoted Academics and students of the ccult (with an emphasis on languages, demonology, and apocryphal religious scripture). To assist in the hunt for sleepers and track infernalists, the Path encourages Investigationandintuitiverecognitionof thesupernatural through Awareness, while covering one’s motives from suspicion by way of Subterfuge. Preferred Disciplines: Auspex and Animalism are emphasized for their information-gathering capabilities. Animalism, on top of awarding an unobtrusivenetworkof spies, grants power overtheBeastwithin others. Familiarity with any form of blood sorcery is demandedby the Path to provide somedefense againstthe enemiesoftheOrder.The versatilityofDaimoinoncomplimentsAbelenemethodolo- gy and enhancesitstendenciesfor combating fire with fire. The Path of the Scorched Heart Nickname: Unforgiving Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control Bearing: Intellect. Unforgiving are not easily swayed by appeals to emotion. Their bearing modifier affects rolls meant to influence them through Social Attributes. Basic Beliefs: Emotion is a flaw that sullies perception and clouds judgment. Facts and hard data earned first- hand are what one can trust. The Unforgiving prize the faculty of reason, objectivity, logic, and observation over all else. The Path originates from a True Brujah whose unique perspective on vampiric existence led him to the conclusion that, since the Beast exercises its control through emotion, all emotion must therefore be tainted by the Beast. mWith certainty, the actions of any Cainite not in com- and oftheir emotionswould surely be governed by their emotions, and therefore the Beast. In order to tame the Beast and find respite, one must first eradicate all trace of emotion by cutting off the mind and “scorching the heart.” If a Caintie can resist the Beast, she must resist it, and succumbing to frenzy or Rötschreck is an abject failure on the Path. FewCainitesrecall eventswhen in the grips of the Beast, ergo no knowledge, save secondhand, may be gleaned from the experience.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 57/232 56 CHAPTER ONE: BLACK AS HELL, DARK AS NIGHT Unforgiving are superblistenerswhovigilantlypay close attention to their surroundings, absorbing minutiae and details their peers overlook, which the Unforgiving store away and compartmentalize for later use. Meticulously thorough, they tend to have remarkably long and exact near-perfect memories, bordering on eidetic. As cham- pions of openness and honesty who abhor secrets, the Unforgiving are guaranteed to deliver literal truth, in all things, to any who deal with them. Though lies are not tolerated, truth itself can be a deceit. Followers of this Path know that perceptions of what con- stitute wrong or immoral action are not definite. Opinions change with new information — right or wrong conclusions by anobserverina situationaremalleable andmutable tothe extent of the data used to arrive at a decision. Before under- taking any action that does notrequire immediate attention, they investigate, learn, and then act on their analysis only when secure enough in the knowledge acquired to do so. TheUnforgiving revealonlywhatisnecessary toachieve their ends; the less an enemy knows, the more likely they are to make a mistake. Threats against oneself, however veiled, must be treated as real until proven otherwise. Loose ends and subtle hints cannot be trusted. The Unforgiving are dauntless and persistent in pursuit of a foe, not because of any petty emotional grudge or fear, butthatthe simple logic ofself-preservation demandsthat one avoids any opportunity for an enemy to return and exact unexpected harm. The Ethics of the Path • Quench all emotion by drowning it in the frigid waters of reason. Emotion is the sole tool of the Beast, its only avenue of control. Lock the door to starve the Beast. • Reality can be understood and quantified when not clouded by emotion. Right and wrong are atavistic emotional concepts. Morality is merely an impediment, a conduit for emotion. Favor ethics over morality and know the distinction. • Trust only what you can verify. Assume nothing. Following a siren singing on the rocks only invites the ship to sink. Unless critically urgent for your survival, draw no conclusion, pass no judgment, and do not take any action without proof. When action is required, act decisively. • Learn all you can; knowledgeis neverwasted. Simply knowing will help you predict the actions of others and the unfolding of circumstance.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 58/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 57 Path of the Scorched Heart Hierarchy of Sins Rating Moral Guideline Rationale 10 Failing to acquire knowledge that is safely and readily available Knowledge is the wellspring of truth; you can never know enough. 9 Committing to any action without purpose Do not waste effort on what does not enhance you. 8 Sacrificing when you gain less A victory that costs you more than you earn gar- ners no benefit. 7 Relying on others Your actions are the only ones you can predict with absolute certainty. 6 Making assumptions Without clarity, error hides in the fog of unconsid- ered data. 5 Acting rashly You cannot learn from indiscriminate action. Ob- serve, think, calculate, consider, then act. 4 Speaking falsely Truth is a bullet. Without trust, truth has no gun. 3 Falling to frenzy or Rötschreck Carelessness is dangerous. You cannot control the threats you fail to see when not objective. If you cannot master yourself, you have no defense against others mastering you. 2 Making decisions based on emotion The urges of emotion are the words of the Beast, not your own. Purge them. 1 Acknowledging your emotions The Beast feels. You do not. Deny the Beast and it withers. • Define thenature ofall yourrelationshipsexplicitly. Never presume honesty or loyalty from another; intent is not a reliable indicator of outcome and truth to those with emotion is as subjective as ignorance. • Be honest in all of your dealings to a fault (with preference to the fault of others, over that of your own). Truth is a weapon, so wield it. Let others deceive themselves by the truth in your words. History TheTrueBrujahRathmonicusfirst conceivedthePath in the 14 th century. Rathmonicus sought to catalogue andcollectevery philosophyandstricturemadeavailable to him on the topic of quieting the Beast. He compiled and recorded his findings in a codex called the Book of the Empty Heart. Though Rathmonicus himself fell to the tumult of the Anarch Revolt, copies of his work saw translations from his native Greek into Arabic, French, Latin, and eventually English. Despite only three verifiable copies of the original book surviving to the present age, unconfirmed English copies are somewhat common in scholarly circles. Path adherents diligently search for any texts to destroy inaccurate or inauthentic translations. Current Practices Students of Rathmonicus’ work have always been a rare breed, as those on the Path do not actively pursue converts. Teachers prefer to tutor those who discover the work on their own, see the merit in it, and seize the initiative to seek guidance by finding a mentor to direct them. Practitioners are inclined to organization and open communication with each other. Congregations of those on the Path are not unheard of, as they tend to contact one another when a copy of the Book of the Empty Heart appears in a newly opened collection, or on the market. When two or more Unforgiving meet, discourse usually steers to the philosophical and academic observances related to the subject of Rathmonicus’ book. Description and Followers RegardlessofthePath’sinceptionwiththe TrueBrujah, they tend to be fickle in their disposition when it comes to Paths of Enlightenment. Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, and Toreador — those Clans most prone to wild emotion and needing to alleviate themselves of the Beast’s burden — tend to make up the bulk of the Path’s followers. Technology invokes a curiosity in adherents of the Path; even Elders take the time to study and comprehend new devices to serve them. The Unforgiving are unobtrusive,

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 59/232 58 CHAPTER ONE: BLACK AS HELL, DARK AS NIGHT observant, quiet, and passive, but always alert.When they do speak, they ask clarifying questions and give simple, obviousstatementsonthingsthatothershaveoverlooked. Following the Path Withdrawn and non-confrontational, the Unforgiving repress emotion utterly and see little benefit in argument — the truth is not up for debate and blatant emotion clouds reasoning. When presented with contrary (false) viewpoints, followers deliver the factual position, ignor- ing opinion and those who stubbornly refuse to believe otherwise. Killing comes easily and without guilt. They typicallyhavelittlecompunctiononthematter;evaluating and analyzing every potential outcome for a situation and striking where and when it proves necessary or advanta- geous for them to do so. Common Abilities: Honing a refined command of Alertness,Investigation,Expression,andAcademicsisboth respected and expected by followers ofthe Path.However, it bears noting that if a follower has the opportunity to learn something, she’s unlikely to decline. PreferredDisciplines:Themoreoneperceivesthemore data they gain, so Auspex is nearly universal amongst the Unforgiving. Animalism, by providing a ready means to quell and subdue the Beast, is equally prominent. Dominate as an instrument for coaxing forth the truth is bothstraightforwardandblunt, complementing thePath. Yet,justaswithAbilities,thoseonthePathoftheScorched Heart favor learning, and making any assumptions about their capabilities can prove quite fatal. The Path of Self-Focus Nickname: Internalists Virtues: Conviction and Instinct Bearing:Balance.ThosearoundInternalistsarerelaxed by their peaceful presence. Their bearing modifier affects rolls to avoid confrontation or calm others down. Basic Beliefs: Purpose is an illusion; the universe is a stream proceeding of its own accord and the rock that standsopposedisswallowed.Attemptingto changeathing will only change you.Conscious inaction and acceptance of all things is the Path of Self-Focus. Where there is no conflict, the Beast is quiet. To be free of the Beast, one must welcome it or invite misery and failure. Answers are irrelevant;they are an end and the universe is a way. Questions point to the way. The universe must work through each being. By interfering, one rejects the universe and assumes responsibility. Saving a being from painrobstheuniverseofalessonandthebeingof ateacher. Actions align with the universe only when spontaneous, natural and the result of the moment. Planning for the future is foolish, and acting for the past is wasteful. The work is done and then forgotten. And so it lasts forever. Only the ever-present holds the way of things. Focused, undistracted attention leaves no room for angst, passion, or consideration for anything other than the moment. The Ethics of the Path • Exist only in the moment. Pay no mind to what has beenorwhatistocome.Only thenowcanbe affected. • Nothing is exclusive or separate. The intellectual and the visceral are equal parts of your nature. Know yourself and the Beast utterly. • To mourn suggests the universe is wrong. When hungry, feed. When threatened, kill. • Itis bettertobe underestimated than overestimated. The overconfident do not know their limits, and the weak are underestimated by all. Weakness is strength you have not mastered. • Meaning is an invention of the heart. The mind compromiseswithmeaningthroughwords.Actions are the language of the universe. Meaning is imma- terial; words are paint, but actions build a house. • A being’s responsibility is to itself, not others. History Dating back to the 6 th century CE, the Path of Self- Focus emerged out of cultural appropriation between Asian and Middle Eastern vampires trading in goods and ideas. Muslim Cainites learned the secrets of manu- facturing paper and the philosophies of the Far East, and Zen Buddhism and the mortal teacher Laozi’s concept of “Wu Wei” spread amongst the Ashirra courts. However, the foreign precepts were never fully adopted. Were it not for the attention of the Nagaraja, who then nurtured the basic concepts within the Tal’Mahe’Ra, the Path may not have materialized at all. While the Path never gained popularity with the Western Hand’s European Cainites, it has a small but dedicated following in the Eastern Hand and a growing interest in the Americas. Current Practices Followers of the Path are renowned for their intelli- gent introspection and tranquil, balanced nature. The

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 60/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 59 Internalists’ ethicaldoctrinedoesnotpromote evangelizing or a desire to increase their influence inorganically by intention. The Path’s pursuits tend to be solitary; outside ofmentor-studentrelationshipspathadherentsrarelyhave any contact. Age, Clan, or Sect normally do not factor in determining who an Internalist will teach. Internalists commonly spend their time making observations on the “way” and discussions with prospective students who grasp the basic ideas. Description and Followers Many Kindred encountering Internalists dismiss them as slow and passive, but understand all too quickly that the Path’sfollowersaremorethancapable(andwilling)todefend themselves if pressed — a stream, after all, does not have to destroy a rock to engulf it and uses as much or as little force as needed to do so. Patient and perceptive, all seek out new sensations to glimpse the unfolding “way” of the universe in action and would never reject or insult someone based on beliefs or words. Unlike the Unforgiving, Internalists are pure subjectivists — how circumstance relates to them as a whole is what captures their interest, not the minute details therein.WhereastheUnforgivingabsorbwhateverknowledge they can,Internalistslearnskillsthat complement or contrast their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Following the Path Internalists are introspective in the extreme. New sen- sations(such as a different method of feeding orsuffering a wound from a different source) are always fresh soil for contemplation. Existence is a series of spontaneous and perpetual changes, and to resist will only sow failure. Things must flow forward in whatever way they choose. To Internalists, dichotomies such as life and death, or the Beast and Cainite, are a single thread viewed from different sides. CommonAbilities:Anything that assistsin “knowing” theuniverse throughoneself(andvice-versa)while avoiding unnecessary stressis popular among Internalists. Empathy, Expression, Etiquette, and Survival offer followers the means to reflect and navigate on experience. Preferred Disciplines: With the ability to drift in the ether, transcending the body through the higher levels of Auspex pairs well with the Internalist philosophy of “non-doing” or conscious inaction. Disciplines that rely on changing the self (such as Protean or Vicissitude) are valued.MostInternalistsaspiretoCelerityforitsday-to-day utilitarian qualities as well as its simultaneous offering of both offensive and defensive uses. Path of Self-Focus Hierarchy of Sins Rating Moral Guideline Rationale 10 Accepting everything A bowl filled to the brim will spill. 9 Accepting nothing Oversharpen your knife and it will break. 8 Laziness An ant on the move does more than a sleeping elephant. 7 Interfering in the universe In order to lead, walk behind. 6 Restraining the Beast Struggle creates conflict and moves you out of line with yourself. 5 Failureto treatothers as youwouldbe treatedAct as your own master. Even a teacher must be questioned. 4 Allowing the universe to interfere with you You alone control your actions. 3 Overconfidence To know strength, harness weakness. 2 Rejecting nothing Water is gentler and more flexible than anything, and yet nothing can resist it. 1 Rejecting everything By not changing direction, you always arrive where you are headed.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 61/232 “The names are here,” Pallas said. She ran along the wall of the tomb, pointing at the inscriptions on the wall. I let the guide fall to the ground with a clumsy thud. My mouth tasted like sand and blood, the crunch of grit soothed by the rich metallic taste. Acenath grimaced, but I could tell she wanted to nish what I had started. “Wait for Pallas,” I instructed her. She blinked at me in that peculiar way of hers, her eyes changing colors. I didn’t know there were fae in Egypt, but apparently, her sire didn’t know either. “Pallas, come, eat. You’ve been running like a dog all day.” “But I’m not hungry,” she protested. She was. I could feel what her body needed. Still, her mind kept her from partaking. “Pallas, if you don’t have any, Acenath can’t, and tchaenn’tIh’lalvbeet thhaet,o”nI lysaoidn.e“iPnltehaesier.”riPgahltlams idnrdagagneddwe her eyes away from the wall and joined us, plop- ping down on the stone oor and taking the guide’s arm in her hand. She brought his pale wrist to her mouth and bit in, the blood pumping slowly into her mouth. “I still don’t know why we had to kill him,” Acenath said, trying to seem disturbed by it. “He was hard to nd and didn’t overcharge us too much.” “If this place is what Pallas says it is, I hope he really is the only human who knows this is here,” I said, leaning back against the wall. “He’s lucky it was us who found it and not someone else.” “Like who, the Black Hand?” Pallas said with a giggle. Our trip to the Old World had taken us many places and I had found some of Pim’s worries to be true. I learned to keep Pallas close and to make plans at the last minute if at all, as well as keep our plans from people. Now we were in Egypt and met with Acenath, who led us to the guide. Pallas was becoming more unstable. I wanted to move on, but her spells grew longer, and traveling with her while she was rambling was cumbersome and drew attention. We met with Acenath after a few emails to Pim. Acenath looked to me, her hands folded in front of her. “Eat,” I said, turning away so I wouldn’t see her rush towards the body. Their feasting echoed in the stone tomb and I looked up at the wall, studying the images there, hands in my pockets. Whoever was buried here did not die peacefully. Gruesome imag- es adorned the wall, tortures all poured out onto one individual till the nal image depicted their nal resting place. “They aren’t dead,” Pallas said, pulling her blood stained mouth away long enough to speak. “This isn’t a tomb. It’s a home.” Footsteps around us made us all jump, Acenath vanishing and Pallas curling into a ball. I alone wheeled around to face whoever approached, only to stumble back as something hit me in the face, knocking me unconscious. When I came to, I was in a dark, cool room. A single oil lamp lit the room, the crackle of the small ame pathetic against the expanse of the chamber. I winced as I sat up, bringing a hand gingerly to my face. It was torn open, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Under my own touch, I could feel my esh and skin knit back together from the inside out. I could feel someone else in the room with me, someone stron- ger than myself. And I could smell blood. “Where are Pallas and Acenath?” I asked, not looking back. I heard the person chuckle, a rasping, old sound like papyrus rubbing against pyramid stones. I heard the person chuckle, a rasping, old sound like papyrus rubbing against pyramid stones. “Oh, but where are you?” they replied. I heard them shufe to their feet and then walk over, pulling something behind them. “Don’t you care about yourself, little Kindred?” “Of course I do,” I said. I looked over my shoulder and then turned to face the person approaching me, a hunched Nosferatu who smelled of reptiles and fetid mud. “I’ve heard it said you put others before yourself,” they said. They were dragging a body behind them. I could hear their skin tearing across the hard stones. “They say you have something like compassion in your black, twisted heart.” “I am sure the years will wear all semblance of that away, until I’m just another old, paranoid childe of Caine,” I said. I dragged my knees up and wrapped my arms around my legs. The ceiling was low but the room was large. “Caine, yes, perhaps,” the old Nosferatu said. As he drew closer, the reek grew stronger, and I half expected him to have crocodile teeth in his mouth. When he nally lifted his head towards me, I saw his teeth were small and worn down, save the canines. “I am sure in your travels you have heard other stories.”

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 62/232 “Other stories make for good conversation around the table, not for beliefs,” I said. “Beliefs fuel inghting and, well, what table would we all sit around as a people anyway?” “You hold on to what your sire told you, like a baby, always believing their mother’s words?” they said. “I’m Ziz, by the way.” “You probably know who I am,” I said. “Blake is what they screamed after you were knocked unconscious,” he said. I started to move but he held a hand up, freezing me in my place. “No need to make a fool of yourself. Your friends are all right.” He laid the body in front of me gingerly, the way a host might set the main dish upon the dinner table. “Now, Blake, do you want to help keep the peace?” “What do you mean?” I asked. I looked down at the human set before me. His chest still moved up and down, breathing. I hadn’t bothered to pretend I needed air in so long. “There is no war. The Camarilla keeps their court, and we have our ac- cords. There are skirmishes, to be sure, and times when the ghting is hard, but there is peace.” “There is war within ourselves, Blake,” Ziz said. “You know this. And even among the oldest Kindred who have told themselves yes, Caine is our father and we are Cainites, there are many who wonder if there is something more to the story.” Ziz picked up the young man’s arm and inspected the hand, looking over the rough ngers and hairy knuckles. “There are those who believe something else, and think if it is true, just in case...we must take precaution. We must protect the secrets, those found and those to be found. And when that terrible day comes, we must be ready to protect the innocent. Those who tried.” “You’re talking about the Black Hand,” I said, looking around for a door. “I don’t know if I believe those stories.” “But you came here, all this way, following your friend Pallas here, all chasing a name. What was it? Nergal?” I looked up and Ziz laughed, the driest sound I had ever heard. It made me thirsty to hear it. “Where is Nergal?” “In Pallas’ head,” I replied. “In Enoch.” It was a half whisper, half hiss. He dropped the human’s arm and shuffled towards me again. “This is what they say. It is said some can hear them. Some can see them in their dreams, those vampires who still can. They write in old books with an invisible hand, in unknown blood while no eyes watch.” I might have laughed. If I heard this from some- one on the street back in my homeland or read it in an email, I would have laughed. But the way the old Nosferatu said it as he drew closer, his dark eyes bright and the smell of hot decay clinging to me, made me swallow hard, an old reex. My nails dug into the stones I sat on as I leaned back, the Nosferatu almost on top of me. His face was close to mine, and I could smell the scent of so much blood delicately sipped from nipped open skin on his cold breath. “Those who believe, they must protect.” “Protect from what?” I whispered. “There is no choice, young Blake. There are only the chosen.” Before I could react, his gnarled hand was at my throat, slamming me back onto the stone. His knee pressed into my chest, pinning me there to the ground as his bulk kept me down. I screamed and ailed, clawing at his already scarred and terri- ble face, but he only laughed, producing a wooden stake with his other hand and bringing it abruptly to my throat. I could feel the rough wood against my skin, splinters puncturing my esh. “You will serve,” Ziz said as I ailed, still trying to break free. Every move I made only made him heavier. m“y I lf ipI ws, oh ne ’tp?r”eAss sedsotoh ne satsa tkhe ehwaordrders a sg liapipn esdt mfry om neck. The feeling of my esh tearing ceased my struggles. The old Nosferatu sat on top of me for what seemed like hours, smiling down at me. “I am glad you have calmed yourself, Blake,” Ziz said. “It will come in handy. Eat, and then sleep. It is almost day.” “What about—” “They’re ne,” Ziz said, shufing off. He picked up the oil lamp and moved towards where the exit probably was. “Someone will come get you at dusk. Rest well.” I didn’t know what to say, so I just watched him leave and then disappear. I thought about following him out, trying to run and nd Pallas and maybe Acenath. Of ying back to New York and back to Ophelia and lines on the street one didn’t cross. But the body beside me was warm, and the choice had been made for me. I had come looking for answers to a question I hadn’t been able to form.

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8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 64/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 63 Lilith’s faithful knew Enoch from ancient days. They often sought it out because according to the Lilith Cycle’s “Book of the Owl,” itwasthe enemy’s city. Caine’s cursed get erupted from its walls to ravage D’hainu, the Dark Mother’slast garden. The First Murderer’s brood feasted oncreaturesthattheworldwillneversee again. Inapotent frenzy inspired by the blood of Lilith’s mighty children, they destroyed the last place to be equal to Eden before marching back through Enoch’s gray gates. It was a city to hate, and its throne was worthy of destruction. The cults of Lilith often sought Enoch out, but it wasn’t in their nature to undertake militant quests. The Dark Mother gave them freedom and a respect for intuition instead of rigid codes to follow, so they studied Enoch’s lore whenever transitory impulses guided them there. The sisters in Lilith known as Bahari might let the search rest a century or more, until other interests faded and D’hainu’s memory returned, giving rise to anger anew . So it went until the death of Alexander, ravager of Greece, Persia, and Asia. By cutting a common culture into his empire, the tyrant made it easierforfar-flung Goddess cults to com- municate.Thusthe eldestBahari,whohad long dwelled in the fertile navel of the West, heard rumors of Enoch from certain Indian vampires. Collaborators among the mortal witches confirmed them. They remembered confronta- tions with sorcerers who made their own way through the Underworld. These Eastern necromancers refused to pay Charon’s coin and when captured, babbled about a secret citadel, then perished. Yet it took many more human lifetimes to gain a foot- hold in Enoch. When empires rose, the enemy ascended with them, making themselves secret kings of the kine. This growing threat forced the Bahari to set aside their plans for the First City and protect the Dark Mother’s path. Mystery religions devoted to the Goddess survived and thrived. By the time Rome turned inward, safely decadent, the cults of Lilith and Isis, and Cybele made tentative contact with the Tal’Mahe’Ra. They discovered Enoch’sminderswerenotdisciplesofCaine,but anorder of living and undead mystics. These Idran believed that the significance of Enoch lay not in its builder, but in its fated purpose. The First City was destined to be the last. With the help of the cult’smortalwitches, theBahari sent emissaries to the fallen city. This sparked numerous minor conflicts with doctrinaire Noddists, who had already staked a claim to the city. They battled Bahari for accessto important sites, but neitherside held territory forlong. The Idran invari- ably trotted outtheirsorcererservitorsto eradicate the victors. “She sends witches around to teach the women spells that keep babies away, and gives them horrible things to eat. Some say she is in league with the Shadows to put an end to the race. At night we hear the questing beast, and lie awake and shiver. . . There are words that have power to shoo her away, only they do not always work—But here I sit talking, and the beast may by this time have got home, and her mistress be sending the other after us!” — George MacDonald, Lilith

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 65/232 64 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER The Aralu Was a Woman Enoch’s an infamous place in Bahari lore, but they respect those who believe the city must be preserved and defended. This isn’t just because they put their trust whatever the Wazir have to say about the Guarded Rubrics, because they don’t. It’s the Aralu. The Aralu must be Lilith’s childer. Not all Bahari believe the Dark Mother created undead offspring, but all think she could have, and the fact that no Noddist can say who the Aralu are with any certainty constitutes a strong argument that the Aralu come from Lilith, not Caine. Only she could create beings of compara- ble power. In legendary times, Enoch and Lilith’s D’hainu went to war. Perhaps the conflict was not as one-sided as even the Lilith Cycle claims. Maybe Enoch is deserted save for the Aralu not because of the Flood, but because Lilith’s greatest childer took it from their enemies. If so, Enoch has already been conquered, and the Bahari stand on the side of the victors. Noddist and Ba’ham alike suffered under the rise of Christianity because it called their mortal cults heresies. However, the Dark Mother’s children face the greater challenge, as the Church represented the very patriar- chal authority they resisted. Tiring of sectarian violence at the very gates of Enoch, the Idran and other Eastern Kindred sawthis as an opportunity to drive these “Roman” troublemakers away during the 5th Century CE. Yet this so-called “War of Betrayers” was necessarily limited by the secret of Enoch itself. Offend the enemy too much, and she would simply tell outsiders about the hidden city. Thus, even at the height of hostilities, the Idran still allowed small numbers of Western Kindred to visit the city if they promised to conduct themselves peaceably. Followers of Caine and Lilitheventually agreed to a truce. They committed to the Black Hand under the common belief that Gehenna must provide a reckoning for their kind, one way or the other. The Anarch Revolt represented a threat to an orderly finaljudgment,sotheTrue Handset aside internalturmoil to send agents into the fray and in the process, forged a moremeaningfulpeacebetweentheNoddistsandBahari. The Bahari sanctified a Temple of Lilith in the dead city and even cooperated with Noddists on common projects to defend and studyit.Meanwhile,Lilith-worshipingwitch cults changed with the ages to found tradition of mages. Using Shadowlands-piercing magic, Lilin mages ensured access to the city throughout the next few tumultuous centuries. While the Eastern Hand grew more insular, Lilith’s faithful spread their teachings among Western Kindred.Withtheirsorcery,secretknowledge,andpolitical clout, the Bahari can no longer be denied a place among Enoch’s guardians. Even standing beside old enemies had proven itself a benefit. Noddists expose the Bahari to obscure texts, andtheDarkMotherprovidesthe guidance needed to interpretthem anew. Her children stand ready for the nights of judgment to come, and will ensure that the ancient crimesCaine’s people committed against Her will be punished. TThal’MeaheB’RaaBahharai dirdni’t fMightithseisr wiaoy innto Enoch to meditate on the ruins. They founded their temple beside their old enemy’s throne. The First City shall be the last, where the world submits to judgment. Yet it cannot help but reflect the world’s nature as an unjust place, where gods cast Lilith into the dust between their garden paradises. The Cult of Lilith must make Enoch a just city, and its Black Hand must guide and punishfairly. It must answer ancient injustices instead of obeying the corrupt laws of Nod. Caine’s patriarchy has fallen. His Antediluvians are doddering, half-sleeping fathers who feel nothing except through their cruel children, but this is an opportunity as well as a curse for the world, for the Ancients may be redeemed through their offspring’s agony. Lilith knows thatsufferinginflicteduponachild transformstheparent. She experiencedthisinD’hainu,whenthe lordsofEnoch slew her children. Gehenna must trade eye for eye and fang for fang for the injustices of the past. It’s time to plant a new Tree of Knowledge — one that poisons evildoers who swallow its seeds, showing their errors to the rest. The Cult of Lilith already broke the TrueHandoutofinward-looking apocalyptic visions.The Tal’Mahe’Ra used to give lip service to its mission to pro- tect the kine from Kindred sadism, but Bahari hold them to their word. Shakari knives grow black with the ashes of infernalists and the Shadow Crusade destroys tainted

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 66/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 65 beings, but Lilith’s children find it more meaningful that the True Hand earnestly punishes vampires who inflict far more suffering than they need to survive. Bahari enforce discipline within the Hand as well, subjecting the guilty to purifying ordeals. They’re not the only Kindred who punish wayward members, but by performing their duties with precision and a strange sort of compassion (for every torment is a lesson), they’ve earned the Qadi’s trust. Now Bahari redress old injustices. The cult doesn’t believe it can take revenge for Caine’s crimes during the age of myth(ifindeed itwas anything otherthan allegory), but it can repair some of the damage he inflicted. They share the Path of Lilith with Kindred who accept that Caine’s an absent father, and emulating humanity is nothing but a false mask for monsters. They bring wom- en of the Blood glorious news: life’s injustices need not follow them throughout undeath. Bahari revive a faith in the Dark Mother not seen since the old nights when believers founded holy bloodlines in Her name. The cult remembersthem —and how Cainites used Churchproxies to destroy the Lhiannan and Giovanni slew the Lamia. But a rebirth is at hand. In the Sabbat, Ahrimanes hunt woods and industrial wastelands, speaking to spirits Lilithbegat during the age of Genesis. Although they refuse to stand with the Camarilla, Daughters of Cacophony sing at its Elysiums, channeling voicesthatsometimespraiseLilith.NowHarbingersofSkulls have returnedwithancientCappadocianlore andmemories oftheLamiawho,likethem,comefromthebloodofLazarus. Three mortalwitchessubmittedtotheLazarene Harbingers’ Embrace and revived Lamia’s order as the Drakaina. The last stream of the Bahari agenda harnesses the cult’s mystical leanings. They study Enoch’s legends not as fixed, dead words, but as a rushing stream of meaning whose course canbe altered.Ancienttextsguide seekersto personalenlightenmentnotthrough anyspellsembedded within, but by inspiring action. Knowing this, the yama- sattva conceal critical sections of the Guarded Rubrics not because of the prophecies and potent rituals within, but how they might prompt the True Hand to respond. The cult’s enemies burn copies of the Lilith Cycle and Caine’s followers repeat Noddist myths ad nauseam, but texts can be rewritten, interpolated, retranslated, and interpreted anew.TheBaharimaynotbe able todestroysacredEnoch, but they can change what it means. When the Bahariturnedone of Enoch’sslave pensinto theirtemple,theynotonlybrought holinesstoanobscene place, but asserted political power in what was once the fortress of their great enemy. Building on interpretations ofthe GuardedRubricsthattheymay wellhaveencouraged the yamasattva to utter, the Azicithra sect (see p. 68) have reshaped Caine into something the cult can support: the son and daughter of Lilith, given a mark by the holy Serpent instead of Adam. Caine may be only a name for a shadowed origin, but names have power. Naming is the deep magic that enslaves everything given a word, so that it might be dominated and controlled. The Bahari have changed what Caine means here, at the place he will return. Changing meaning is a deeper magic still. Those who worship the First Murderer as man and woman, and the offspring of the Goddess, now sanctify the Throne of Ghemal. When Caine sits on it once more, he will be bound to dispense Lilith’s justice as the vines of D’hainu choke the avenues of the Final City. The Way of Lilith To understand Lilith, study pain. Pain is the first and last sensation for Kindred and kine alike,soitshouldnot be feared,but exalted.Itisthepriceof birth. We share the birth agony with our mothers (though she feels a different order of pain than we do) when, as screaming infants, we experience the icy air in our lungs for the first time. So it is with the Embrace, where the Blood’s mother (one does not “sire” a Ba’ham like a lord recognizing a vassal) gives you precious new life. You crawl fromdeath.She carrieshungerfromthe vitae she sacrificed to create you. Mortals and Kindred both walk through turns of the moon until pain comes again, to carry them intothe shadows andunknowngardensbeyondthis world. Whether it manifests in slow human cancers or the sun claiming its price from undead flesh makes no difference. The name of pain is Lilith, she of the mystery of moth- erhood, life, death, and the agonies that transform. She is generous, sparing none Her blessings. Like the Mother herself, Lilith’s cult accepts all who enter sincerely, willing to study the feminine mysteries of pain, transformation, and creation. The cult shuns the hierarchiesthat other occult orders and mysticalKindred adore.Thosepompoussecretsocietiesare errantbranches of the tree, cut and whittled into something dead and brittleby ancientpatriarchy.The cultisLilith’sliving,wild garden. It embraces many offshoots from its primordial roots. None remember which sect is the original, but it doesn’t matter — thisis not a society ruled by pontiffs and priest-kings, but those who come of their own accord to understand the Dark Mother. The cult purifies its mem- bership with difficult rites. Remember the pain?

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 67/232 66 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER Gender in the Bahari The Cult of Lilith unapologetically centers itself on the concept of feminine power. Most sects accept male adherents, but there’s no room for a comparable doctrine of masculinity. Anyone whose personal gnosis leads them to (for example) treat Lilith and Caine as male and female equals should leave the Bahari. The Azicithra represent the closest the cult comes to any such belief. Male Bahari can earn a great deal of respect, but never more than a woman from the same sect. When Baharispeak of gender, they normally referto sincere personal identity instead of biological traits, and may talk about degrees of femininity rather than binary identities. While this may synchronize with modern, progressive ideas about gender, the rationale stems from ancient traditions and super- natural reality. Many adherents come from cultures that provide traditional ways to select one’s gender, and in any event, many common sex differences fall away after the Embrace. Sex doesn’t influence the ability or channel the Blood into physical strength or reproduce by creating ghouls and childer. In other respects, many Bahari are less enlight- ened. To a Ba’ham, womanly ways reject au- thority, respect intuition, and endure suffering. Women who respect strong leadership, focus on analytical thinking, or display little patience for learning through pain may be alienated by Bahari internal stereotypes. Nevertheless, the cult’s rejection of top-down authority allowed personal gnosis to trump the collective opinions. Doctrines of the Bahari You may call them Lilin, Bahari, Howlers, Verbena, Nightjars,Owls,Cats,andDragons.Whatevertheirnames, the Dark Mother gave birth to them all, will slay them all, and will guide them through the moons of life and death. In the True Hand, believers form a loose alliance that answersto many names, but mostreferto themselves as Bahari (singular Ba’ham) to evoke a sense of common sisterhood. The name originates from the Lilith Cycle, a group of texts said to record all of the Dark Mother’s stories, from her presence at Genesis to her acts in the Final Nights. Tal’Mahe’Ra cultists give particular weight to the Cycle because they’ve probably gathered more of its fragments than any other group, but it’s no “Lilith Bible.” Sacred texts guide practice, but are not a Logos handed down from above, because the cult embraces personal revelation and many subsequent variants of its coreprecepts.The followingarenothideboundtraditions membersadheretowithlegalisticfervor,butwhatrespected Bahari recognize as the way of the Dark Mother. All Are Equally Holy Before Lilith Thelowestneonateandmightiestelderarethesamebefore theDarkMother.Bahari avoidinitiatorydegrees anddon’t string along adherentswithpromisesof greatersecretsonce they “prove themselves worthy.” Bahari don’t reject social hierarchies out of hand but favorintuitive, pragmatic ways of organizing. An elder Ba’ham deserves respect because she survived and studied for centuries, not because she holds a title. Modern Bahari who integrate recent feminist thinkingmayuse some formof consensusdecision-making, but most simply honor superior knowledge. Bahari often claim this makes them capable of greater social harmony than “Cainites” who battle each other over title and influence, but the vampires who revere Lilithare stillpredators.The DarkMother’s childrenmay not deeply care about who gets to be Harpy on the next Camarilla deep cover mission, but they can still compete with remarkable subtlety and savagery. Eve Ate of the Tree of Knowledge As lover to the Serpent, Lilith took pity on Eve, who Yahwehmade intoAdam’sslave.LilithgaveEve fruitfrom the Tree of Knowledge to understand her predicament and aspire to greater things. Like Lilith, Eve swallowed its seeds. Legend holds that women who have joined the ranks of those monsters born of Lilith and students of witchcraft germinate the seeds of knowledge within and inherit Lilith’s legacy. These women know the Bahari philosophy inways men never can.Varioussects differ on whether women are inherently better servants of Lilith, but most practice gender equality, a few espouse female superiority, andall emphasizewoman-centeredspirituality. Unfortunately,Baharihave a troubledhistorywhendeal- ingwith ordinary women. Many sects promote contempt for mundane “daughters ofEve” because according to the LilithCycle,Evewas made to be Adam’sinferior.Believers in this doctrine say that despite the Serpent’s mercy,Eve’s daughters will always be weak and oppressed unless they awaken the seed within and attain supernatural abilities.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 68/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 67 This attitude is less common among contemporary ad- herents than elder Kindred. Lilith Has Many Faces As the Lilith Cycle makes clear, the Dark Mother is equal to the other Elohim, including Jehovah, who was a purport- ed sub-creator under a true maker of universes. But Lilith accomplished more. She’s a maker of many gardens, a lover of the gods, and created countless monsters and demigods. Lilithisthe first goddess and the origin ofthe goddess myth. Nevertheless,the culttreatsitstexts astoolsto develop inner knowledgeinsteadofinerrantauthority,soadherentsshould notassumethattheEuropeanTripleGoddess,India’sDurga, orChina’sNuwaaremerely“masks.”Theyrepresentequally valid accounts of the Dark Mother. And yet, the cult isnot sotolerant that itbelieves every account to be equally useful. The Lilith Cycle enjoys pride of place because it stands in direct opposition to patri- archal legends of Caine. Bahari blood magic harnesses this mythology. The cult has a mission, and ideas that don’t move it forward, while personally edifying, should be set aside to concentrate on the greater Bahari cause. Lilith is the Mother of Witches and Monsters The Dark Mother gave birth to all the monsters and night-wisdom of the world. This knowledge doesn’t belong exclusively to Kindred, lupines, mages, or any other type of supernatural being. Lilith made vampires, but was not just a vampire. Lilith shared the secrets of natural sorcery with the first mage, but was never just an “awakened” human. Therefore, the cult should accept any of Lilith’s children, alongwithanyoneelsewhosincerelyfollowsHerways.Bahari foster cooperationbetweenKindredandothersupernatural beings, as long as all participants respect the Dark Mother. Nevertheless, these groups rarely unite under one Goddess without encountering significant tensions. The Cult of Lilith focuses on Kindred needs, politics, and the spirituality that grows from conflict with the Beast. Some magesmayhonor Her,butoutside ofthe True Hand,most relegate her to a secondary position behind their native cultures’ polytheistic and pantheistic beliefsystems.While theytheoreticallyacceptnon-Kindredasequals,Baharisects usually put undead spirituality before everything else. The Lilin mages (see p. 70) represent an exception to the trend thanks to their long association with True Hand Bahari. Lilith is the Pain of Transformation TobecomeBahari,onesuffersandmustinflictsuffering.This requirementnarrowstherangeofcandidatesforatheoretically open cult down to those able to transform pain into insight,

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 69/232 68 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER and inflict it for the edification of practitioner and subject alike. Some modern Bahari incorporate the frameworks and theories of BDSM psychosexualtheater, but practicesthat use pain for instruction have an ancient lineage. To be counted amongtheDarkMother’sdevotees,apetitionermustundergo a form of torment that symbolizes rebirth. To be considered loyal,she musttransform otherswith pain. TheTal’Mahe’Ra oftentrustBaharito punishwayward membersoftheHand.TheTrueHandcorrectsitsmembers with a range of tortures that the Bahari not only demon- strate a special aptitude for delivering, but frame in such away thatwrongdoerslearn from the experience. Against traitors and other irredeemable enemies, these teachings lead to Final Death, but the lesson is still important to deliver.The victim may take itto future incarnations, and the community learnsfromwitnessing suchexecutions.It isstrictly forbiddentotorture andkillfor personalpleasure alone.Oneshouldnotfeelguilty forexperiencingacertain degree of satisfaction, but all agonies should be offerings to Lilith, not shallow personal indulgences. Sects of the Bahari The following sects do not represent all Bahari, but the most notable groups within the Tal’Mahe’Ra. Lilith’s religion spawns numeroussub-cults.MostBaharirejectthe idea of apostasy beyond certain obvious parameters,such as adopting blatant Noddist beliefs or male-supremacist doctrines. These philosophies aren’t mutually exclusive secret societies. With precious few Bahari as it is, further division would limit each sect to less than a handful of practitioners. Adherents move from one current to an- other astheir personal journeys compel them, combining them into personal forms of worship and adding to the cult’s diversity. The Azicithra Rising to prominence out of political necessity, the Azicithra (Avestan for “Seed of the Serpent,” as the sect originally sought refuge in Persia) keeps an uneasy peace between the Bahari and Noddist factions of the Tal’Mahe’Ra.Onceconsideredabizarre,minorcurrentin Bahari philosophy,the sectrecently vaulted to prominence on the shoulders of newpronouncementsfrom the yama- sattva. Declaring that the time had come to reveal certain versesfrom the GuardedRubrics, the deathless magispoke of a fragment called “The Naming of Caine”which reads: For as Caine came forth from the union of Eve and the serpent, the seed of the Tree of Knowledge was the serpent’s seed. And Adam acknowledged it not, and could not name the serpent’s seed, instead calling the child Caine. Therefore the mark of the serpent was substituted for the spear and was not named, and unnamed, it went unseen. The Azicithra long believed that Caine was not the child of Adam and Eve, but of Eve and Lilith as the Serpent. Thus Caine’s lineage constituted the “snake” destined to strike at the heels of Adam’s descendants. Furthermore, as the child of Lilith (who took the male role in procreation and was the supremecreativebeing),Cainewas,likeLilith,manandwoman — there was no “missingwife of Caine” to trouble Creationist vampires. With Lilith’s abilities, the First Murderer became capableofspawningothermonstersfrombiblicalandNoddist lore. “The Naming of Caine” elaborated upon this by saying that Adam had concealed Caine’s feminine attributes — the “mark of the serpent” — and replaced it with the utterly mas- culine name Caine, which translates as “spear.” This paved the way for a wary reconciliation between the Hand’s Bahari and Noddist factions. Azicithra views gained great credence with progressive Noddists and moderate Bahari, but conservatives on both sides still oppose them, if quietly — despite their ranting, peace is too useful to disrupt. Political convenience promotes Azicithra legends from the fringe to the heart of the cult. Few Bahari believe in its doctrines before all others, but it serves as a cooperative face for believers, even if they follow a different path in personal practice. Azicithra Doctrines • Caine was born of Lilith (as the Serpent) and Eve to punish Adam and Jehovah, but in pride, s/he forgot his/her purpose. • Caine isboth manandwoman.The “markof Caine” referstohis/hernature asatwin-sexedbeing,which Adam concealed and Jehovah unmasked. • In defiance of Lilith, Caine gave birth to vampires and other monsters. • In theFinal Nights,Lilith willreconcilewith Caine. Mother and child will judge the Kindred together. The Red Midwives Lilith taught Caine the creative powers of the Elohim, but his arrogance limited his potential. He responded to pain withprimitivedefiance,inheriting justa fractionoftheDark Mother’spower.Thus, vampires cringe inthe face ofthe sun instead of mastering its burning might.They battle theBeast instead of uniting with it to explore divine passions. They cannotcreatechildren,butonlytransformSeth’sdescendants

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 70/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 69 into cursed beings, less than their parents. Mothers should aspiretocreatechildrenthatequalorexceedtheminstrength. They should make excellent monsters whenever they will it. The Red Midwives wish to correctKindred deficiencies and release the Dark Mother’s full power. The Midwives are the most recent incarnation of sects as old as childbirth. Bahari have long attended to mortal pregnancies, providing safe births or abortions as women demanded. Most felt little empathy for the women them- selves, as their concerns were social and mystical. When men perverted birth into a way to perpetuate themselves throughdynasties,theydishonoredtheDarkMother’s gift. When Caine created children to worship him, he made them mere appendages of his will, doomed to repeat his follies. These Bahari also wished to examine the process of reproduction as closely and often as possible in order to master its mysteries and magical implications. Sometimes theywouldblessnewbornswiththeirbloodandteachthem sorcery.Theygazedintosubtlerealmsto examinehowspirits and ghosts responded to birth. Some cultists studied the Embrace just as intensely. Others spied on spirits rutting in the invisible worlds or tracked lineages descended from monsters, devils, and demigods. Over time, the sect has learned enough about biological and supernatural forms of reproduction to make their archives a remarkable prize for doctors, Kindred researchers, and sorcerers alike. Worshiping Lilith in Her aspect as the Mother of Monsters, the sect wishes to inherit the Dark Mother’s divine fertility. For example, they hope to discover a way to allow vampires the power to conceive and give birth to humanchildrenorshape theEmbrace tocreate beingsthat are neither mortal nor Kindred, but evolve according to their mothers’ desires.Thisincludesthe ability toEmbrace withoutcondemningchildertoweakerGenerations,aprize that, once attained, would make the Bahari the strongest oftheundead.Topursue these goals,manyRedMidwives studybloodsorcery,evencapturingTremere andAssamites to torture the secrets of blood manipulation out of them. In modern nights, they find themselves drawn to legends of the Thin-Blooded, for it is said that alone among vampires, they retain the power of human reproduction. It is whispered that the Red Midwives have studied the legends of dhampirs deeply, and may have succeeded in bringing a part-vampire child to term. Red Midwife Doctrines • The children of Caine and Seth abandoned the secrets of birth for patriarchal folly. • Women must be given full control of the power of birth. • Birth is the ultimate creative force, and Lilith’s highestmanifestationis astheMotherofMonsters. • Wewillachieve enlightenmentby inheriting thepower of Lilith’s womb so that the dead may give birth to the living, the living may give birth to the dead, and all may beget children stronger than their mothers. The Thorn Garden In the time of the First City, Lilith created D’hainu, the last holy garden. The Dark Mother took seeds from Eden within to grow a place free from the curses of the Elohim, where Lilith’s children lived in a state of serene instinct. As predators and prey, they dwelled far from humankind’sspears and half-barren fields.Thisrefugewas necessary because Caine’s get greedily drank life from the rest of the land. Pale mortals crawled across deserts that were once crops, surviving on wild grass. Antediluvian vampires preyed on anything with blood,leaving starving slaves and untended land.Indifferentto the needs of life, Enoch’s self-styled gods paid no heed to their suffering subjects until the city itself crumbled from lack of care, as too few lived to maintain its glory. Thus,theAntediluviansassaultedD’hainu.Theydrank from mortal refugees and the Dark Mother’s beautiful monsters. Their corruption defiled the land and their starving slave armies ate like locusts, and then burned the remains so their ashes would fertilize Enoch’s fields. All thatremainedwerefire-hardenedthorns.SomeBaharisay it was the final sin God was willing to endure, triggering the Deluge. Noah’s dove fetched an olive branch from D’hainu’s thorns to signal its end, for burnt and barren as they were, only its trees could stand against the storm. The garden fell, but its trees re-seeded the world. Named for the imperishable remnants of Lilith’s last homeonEarth,theThornGardenembracesits namesake’s transformation. Although D’hainu fell, its ash-covered branches survived where untested trees did not. Lilith was exiled from this last echo of Eden, but now whispers in every receptive heart. All Bahari endure pain to enter the cult, but members of the Thorn Garden chase it with a lover’s fervor to overcome barriers to self-knowledge. Some will arrange masochistic psychodramas, but for others this lacks authenticity — gnosis can only come from a genuine experience, not a simulation. Adherents wish to inflict refined pain as well — an eye for an eye describes the principle, but not the necessary degree of precision. Thus, the True Hand often employs Thorn Garden Bahari to teach through punishment. Beyond the Kindred, followers set upon mortals to correct their behavior. They carry the aspect of Lilith as the owl and

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 71/232 70 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER night terror. Under Thorn Garden protection, mortals neednothave the existenceof vampireshiddenfromthem. They know that the consequences of displeasing their undead guardians are so horrific that they dare notresist. Thorn Garden Doctrines • Pain is a creator, teacher, and sacrament. This is the lesson of the Mother at D’hainu. • Endure suffering to exalt oneself, but not for any other reason. • Never cause pain to simply please oneself, but to help the recipient learn and experience gnosis. • Terroris betterthan anyMasquerade. Masquerades can be broken, but those who fear you not only hide you from others, but from themselves. The Lilin Witches Witches have long honored Lilith, either by that name or in the guise of another Great Goddess, personal deity, or archetype. Before the Flood, wise women escaped Caine’s offspring bywalking paths Lilithlaid inmoonlight, through the old gods’ abandoned gardens. The Goddess has used these paths to visit these Pure Ones, who loved and persecuted her in turn. Against Lilith’s resistance, the Pure Ones eventually shattered, imbuing humanity with their divine potential. Asthe oldestwitchesfollowed Lilith’s paths, they emulated Her struggles and creative acts. They became Spring Maidens, Summer Mothers, AutumnCrones,andWinterBanshees.Alongsidevampire Bahari and other Goddess cults, Lilin witches endured patriarchal persecution in a number of forms. When the Bahari discovered Enoch, they used the magic of Lilith in Winter to escort Kindred allies to the Shadowlands. Centuries later, Lilin witches joined other wise wom- en and cunning men to form the Old Faith magical Fellowship, but a secretive few maintained connections to the Goddess’ undead children. In the 15th century, attacks from enemy philosophers, militant priests and sorcerersforced the Old Faith to expand its numbers and ally with a broader group of mages. Many of these witches and mages honor Lilith, but few devote themselves entirely to Her worship. Of these, a single coven maintains its membership in the Kindred Bahari. The Lilin witches know other mages might be interested in plundering Enoch, and might not approve of their close ties to vampires. Lilin witches routinely submit themselves to the blood bond, and often accept the Embrace once their life extension spells fail. Thus, certain Kindred believe in a form of spirituality that fol- lowed them from life to undeath. These witch-vampires are often highly skilled in forms of blood sorcery that manipulate living things and the elements. Indeed, the Drakaina and their Nightshade Necromancy evolved from the Kindred study of Lilin witch mysticism. Lilin Witch Doctrine • Lilith wasthe first Awakened witch, but was never merely mortal. • She Ascended to the ranks of the Pure Ones and returned to teach the Art to the living and dead. • The Self is a garden, with seasons of growth and withering. • Do not ignore or squander the power of life. The Nightshade Path (Necromancy) Developed by the Drakaina, this Path of Necromancy studies natural cycles, including the savage interplay of life and death. All life is a manifestation of entropy, a chaotic miracle punctuating Creation’s flow toward destruction. When rot claims a body, it impregnates the flesh with insects and lush plants, and its stench calls scavengers who sustain themselves with death’s bounty. Vampires demonstrate how this process can be arrested and manipulated, for Kindred stand suspended at the moment of death, before nature blesses them with the power to decompose and feed living things. The black seed lies dormant within them, but they can encourage its growth in others, manipulating rot and staining life with the ghostly essence. Although theDrakaina developed the Path,they don’t hoard it — it’s the Dark Mother’s gift, to share with all who worship her. Any Bahari necromancer may learn it from a Drakaina teacher. Lilin Nagaraja practice this Path in increasing numbers because it unifiesthe life and death principles in ways anticipated (but never realized) by their Idran forebears. • Tend the Body Garden Modernforensicsmakesitpossibletodeterminetimeof death with remarkable accuracy — a frightening prospect for Kindred with bodies to hide. On the other hand, sometimesit’s betterfor people to find corpses before rot takes them. Presenting evidence that elder Kindred have suffered the Final Death is sometimes difficult to come by, astheir bodiesrapidly molderinto nondescript ash. A

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 72/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 71 necromancerwiththispowerovercomesthesedifficulties. She can speed up or slow the process of decay, turning a dead mortal into a bloated host for flies in seconds or nullifying the decay of Final Death. System:The player spends one blood point as the vam- pire lets some of her blood drip on to a corpse, and rolls Wits + Occult (difficulty 6). Successes allow the vampire to accelerate or arrest decomposition as follows: Successes Delay or Accelerate Rot by: 1 Up to one day 2 Up to one week 3 Up to one month 4 Up to one year 5+ Storyteller’s discretion The vampiremayuse thispoweronmortals andanimals aslong asthe remainshavenotbeensubstantially scattered. It may be used on Kindred no longer than one turn after they’ve met Final Death. Corpses that recently belonged to the living change according to local conditions, so that one stored in a dry place might mummify, while another thatrests on soil quickly sprouts plants and maggots.Living things that feed from the dead are quickened or held in stasis as the corpse is, provided they’re plants, fungi, or no largerthan a scarab beetle.Kindred under FinalDeath wither and fall to dust without attracting such organisms. •• Witch’s Fruit Every plant relies on death to grow. Rotting things enrich the soil, and the trees, vines, and grasses drink up necrotic echoes alongwithvital nutrients.Anecromancer can awaken this death aura by exposing theirfruitsto her blood. She awakens and concentratestheirtrace necrotic energies so that anyone who consumes them can sense and touch the Shadowlands. System: The player spends a blood point while the vampire touches edible plant matter.No roll is required. The first living creature to eat this tainted meal falls into a waking, ambulatory trance for a scene, during which she may see into the Shadowlands, hear its denizens, and even touch and be touched by ghosts. The target may not make physical contact with buildings and other objects that were never alive, and may not be dragged into the Tempest or any other place that has no corresponding location in the living world. Tainted plant matter rots by the next sunrise and loses the ability to impart this state.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 73/232 72 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER Witches’ fruits are mild hallucinogens. Twisted visions ofghostsand long-fallenbuildingsdisorientmortalsunder their influence. This normally imposes +2 to difficulties to perform any actions except for Willpower rolls while affected. Creatures who are familiar with supernatural phenomena don’t suffer this penalty. ••• Raise the Green One Tales of Kid, Osiris, and the Green Man all describe beings who were brought back from death and clothed in verdant color. Isis raised Osiris to become a symbol of rebirth and growth, and neopagans say Green Man ico- nography remembers the god who is slain by Winter and reborninthe Goddess’womb. Nightshadenecromancers channelthese legendsintothe actofraising a corpse bound and strengthened by plant matter. Leaves cover its skin and strong vines supplement its rotted sinews. The living shell grantsspeed and self-preservation instincts not seen in other animated dead. System:The playerrollsWits + Occult(difficulty 8). He spends one Willpower point and one blood point while concentrating on a corpse that lays upon or within fertile soil. If the roll succeeds, red-tinged vines, branches, and leaves envelop the corpse, and it rises to do the necro- mancer’s bidding. The necromancer may only raise the Green Ones one at a time, and may never have multiple Green Ones active at the same time. Green Ones are stronger, faster, and possess better instincts than most zombies. Their traits are Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4, Athletics 2, Brawl 3, and the equivalent of 2 dots of Fortitude, as their damp bodies resist injuries. Bashing damage inflicts half damage to a Green One. Like vampires, they suffer bashing damage from gunfire. Unlike ordinary zombies, they act in stan- dard initiative order. •••• Wails and Whispers As the necromancer’s understanding deepens, she explores the wavering barrier between life and death. When she screams like a banshee, she can lure a soul to its demise, increasing the chance of a fatal injury. When she whispers like a mother to her child, she can fix a soul in the lands of the living, even when it occupies a body that should be dead. System: The vampire concentrates on a target, screaming or whispering as her intentions dictate. (The target does not need to be able to hear the vampire.) The player spends one point of Willpower and rolls Wits + Occult (difficulty 8). If shewishestolurehertarget closertodeath, eachsuccess adds one level of lethal damage to the total inflicted by the next injury he suffers in that scene. If she wishes to prevent the targetfrom dying, eachsuccesssets aside one level of damage (of anykind)fromthenextinjurythe targetsuffersduringthe scene, but this benefit only lasts until the end of the scene, after which the set aside damage returns. The target suffers injury but doesn’t feel its effects, up to and including death, until the scene ends and the damage returns. Note that the Storyteller can rule that very large amounts of damage may cause deathdue tototalornear-totaldestructionofthe body, regardless of this power’s effects. ••••• Chthonic Womb AttheapexofthisPath,anecromancercombinesmurder and fertility to give birth to the ghost of a mortal she has slain. She drinks the victim’s blood to grab hold of his soul, and after dispatching him, traps it within her. At a latertime,shemay callitforth as a ghosttodo herbidding. System: The vampire must drink at least one point of a mortal victim’s blood, but may kill him using another method. Another person or incident may cause the mor- tal’s demise, but the necromancer must make physical contact with him at the moment of death. At that point the player spends one point of Willpower and rolls Wits + Occult (difficulty 8). If the player succeeds, the soul occupies the vampire’s body in a dormant state for up to one monthpersuccess.(Aura Perception orsimilar powers willrevealthe presence of the dormantsoul, which might be mistaken for a form of possession.) The necromancer may store multiple souls this way, but “twins,” “triplets,” and more tax the “mother’s” energy. Each soul stored beyond the first drains one additional blood point when the vampire awakens each night. At anypointbeforethe soulleavesherbody,the vampire may summon it forth to manifest with either the traits of a recently deceased ghost (see V20, p. 385) or those it possessed in life, along with a recently deceased ghost’s supernatural abilities. It must perform three services for its “mother.” After that, the soul is free to move on to its ultimate destiny. If the ghost is commanded to perform any task that would traumatize a mortal (typically, those which would risk a Humanity check in a vampire with that trait at 7) it may, at the Storyteller’s discretion, treat the necromancer as a “fetter,” an object that the ghost fixates upon and uses as a tie to the livingworld.This gives the ghost the ability to haunt the necromancer until it is banished. The necromancer may always simply dismiss the soul when it appears, or even command it to leave her body while the soul still slumbers.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 74/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 73 The Path of Lilith Detailed on pp. 329-331 of Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition, the Path of Lilith represents the heart of Bahari doctrine, teaching an ethos of rising above human suffering,seeking personal enlightenment, and transforming rage into a passion for justice. On the surface, these traits seem commendable and entire com- patible with Humanity. Indeed, many self-styled Bahari outside theTrueHandstillfollowHumanity,andonly use Path teachingsto better define their goals and challenges. True Black Hand Bahari promote just enough modera- tiontoget alongwiththe society’sNoddists,deathcultists, and other elder eccentrics, but nevertheless leads the faithful far from humane values. Practitioners rise above suffering by cultivating a love of pain as a teacher and in- flictingitslessonsonothers. Personalenlightenmenttakes precedence over compassion and, for the Dark Mother’s children, a sense of justice doesn’t preserve peace from its callous enemies, but rains down terror in service of an ancient mythology. Lilith is a Goddess of cycles, so it is right that those who were cast down at the beginning of daysshouldarise throughbloodand ashwhen Gehenna’s black sun rises. Nevertheless, the True Hand’s Bahari are a political front as much as a philosophy, so they permit members to follow a small number of compatible Paths as long as they honor the Dark Mother. These include the Paths of the Feral Heart and Metamorphosis from V20 (pp. 324-326 and 331-332, respectively) and of the Scorched HeartandSelf-Focusfromthisbook (pp.55-58).However, membersfrom other Paths make up a minority of the cult and never rise as high as true believers. Rise like the Mother The heart of the Path is a simple demand: Seek gnosis through suffering. Bahari often speak of “gnosis” due to the influence of Greek culture, where the word represents spiritual insight. (The LilithCycle uses an archaic term, sa, which the oldest Bahari prefer.) Cultistsspeak of finding personal gnosis by developing their own ideas within the Path,andcollective gnosisbysharingnewwaysofknowing Lilith with fellow Bahari. They find much to admire in Gnostic religions that identify the highest wisdom as the feminine principle of Sophia,butrejectdoctrinesthattreat the body and materialworld as obstacles. One should not escape the body, but constantly learn from its pains, lusts, and other demands. These sensations can be rendered down into theword sufferingin the Path’s demand: a state Rite of the Two Trees All Bahari within the True Hand practice some form of the Rite of the Two Trees. Named for the Trees of Life and Knowledge from which Lilith ate and preserved the seeds, the ceremony demonstrates an adherent’s commitment to gno- sis through suffering. Some sects use a standard ritual for all newcomers while others tailor the ritual for each acolyte, but they all bear something in common: the kind of agony that takes people beyond even the point of withdrawing into their psyches, because its intensity, strangeness, and intensely personal nature forces them to confront it, seize a lesson from it, and let it wash away. This is actually easier to induce in Kindred than kine because the Beast indicates when boundaries have been broken, and the Curse of the Elohim (Bahari avoid using the term “Curse of Caine”) provides fire and sun to stimulate the body. System: Many Bahari emerge from the rite trans- formed, but ultimately unscathed. However, a few acquire permanent marks of the experience in the form of Physical or Mental Flaws, balanced by Physical or Mental or Supernatural Merits of equivalent value. The minor magic of the rite allows certain injuries that would normally be erased by a vampire’s nature to persist, as its ago- ny alters the Ba’ham’s mystical self. Example Flaws: Tic/Twitch, Disfigured, One Eye, Open Wound, Lame, Flesh of the Corpse, Blind, Nightmares, Phobia, Vengeful, Flashback. Example Merits: Bruiser, Daredevil, Common Sense, Introspection, Iron Will, Magic Resistance, Oracular Ability, Nine Lives. that not only includes gross physical pain, but all forms of yearning that emanate from the body. Bahari study personal suffering and the pains of others. Lilith is a gnosis-seeker’s Goddess: a maker of inspiring myths and the first along the Path, the one who demon- strated that gnosis can vault Her children to the ranks

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 75/232 74 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER Hierarchy of Sins Against the Serpent’s Seed 9 Tolerating anyholy figure being raisedabove Lilith. 8 Failing to subvert the works of Noddists. 4 Sacrificing fellow Bahari to achieve your goals. Hierarchy of Sins Against the Red Midwives 8 Failing to attend a nearby birth or Embrace ifotherassistancewouldnotbeforthcoming. 5 Shunning inhuman or monstrous creatures. 3 Hindering your childe’s search for gnosis and power. Hierarchy of Sins Against the Thorn Garden 10 Failing to recreate the Garden of D’hainu in Enoch. 5 Teaching without inflicting suffering. 2 Destroying an enemy in anexpedient fashion without visiting instructive agonies upon him. Hierarchy of Sins Against the Lilin Witches 9 Failing to cultivatetheDark Mother’sreligion among mortals. 7 Failing to protect faithful followers of Lilith. 2 Destroying magical secrets and Bahari scripture. of the gods. The Dark Mother inspired a canon of stag- gering diversity that identifies Her with numerous Great Goddessesandoffshootphilosophies.Theseinspirevariant Virtues and sins that may replace those standard to the Path.The following examples encompassthe largestsects within the Tal’Mahe’Ra, but not every group of Lilith’s worshippers. The faithful need not join any particular sect — these affiliations are optional. Bahari avoid rigid doctrines, so it is possible to adopt a sect’s alternate Virtues without its optional sins or vice versa,oradoptbothorneither,whileremaining amember. The Serpent’s Seed (Azicithra) Newly-risen to prominence, the Azicithra arose from the Veiled Bahari of Persia who transformed their hatred of Noddists into a subtle campaign of ideological subver- sion.Instead of destroying Caine,they intend to conquer him by rewriting his myth into one more pleasing to the Dark Mother. Alternate Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control The Red Midwives The medieval Bahari of Making worshiped Lilith as the Mother of Monsters, whose creative powers brought wondrous and terrible beings into the world. The Red Midwives refined the tradition by noting that the Dark Mother gave birth to what she willed, as she willed it — never at the behest of gods and men. Now they emphasize mastering birth and creation instead of merely practicing it. Alternate Virtues: Conscience and Instinct The Thorn Garden Modern Bahari of the Thorns combine the ancient study of pain with a sense of justice born of the much travail the cult has suffered over the centuries. They sup- press the urge for revenge in favor of enforcing the Black Hand’s law. The Thorn Garden’s name symbolizes the sect’s dream of reviving the Dark Mother’s paradise, one righteous torture at a time. Alternate Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control The Lilin Witches Lilin witches adapt the beliefs of Her Awakened fol- lowers, emphasizing the role of death in natural cycles and the Dark Mother’s influence in countless ancient Goddess cults.As befits a sect ofwitches,they seek outthe Bahari’s eldritch lore in the form of scriptures, artifacts, and magical arts. Alternate Virtues: Conviction and Instinct

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 76/232 75 M arkedforevermorewiththesymbolofhis crime, Caine wandered for seven times seven years and came upon the palace of the grim-eyed Lilith, who had been cast from the Garden forrefusing to submittotherstofmenandhertwinnedhusband,Adam Kadmon 1 . Lilith: night-hag, who made her bed beneath the hiddenparts ofthe earth and,despite her wickedness, wasgivenstewardshipovereverymaleinfantbeforetheir eighth day, and everfemale infant before theirtwentieth. The she-demonsuffers the lossofonehundredofherown children with each new dawn, and needs no beast to ride upon 1 , for it roars within her breast. The scent of sin lay heavy on the air, and Caine came easily and untroubled to the outer gate, for those that wouldaccostthe domicile oftheMother ofDemons and that of her brood wouldmeet aprolongeddeath indeed. Inthosedays,herpalace extendedwellineachdirection, formed as it was in ne stone and precious metals that gleamed in the light beneath the layers of verdigris and tarnish.To bearthemanse ofLilithwas to blightthe very land,forthe soilrecognizedthat which came from it and that which had been rejected by the Lord. She heard of his coming, and painted her face and adorned the head of her child Omoroca, who dwelled within her mother’s palace as an attendant. As Caine crossed the gate Lilith called out, “Will it be peace between us, First Among Murderers?” Upon hearing her sweet voice, Caine lifted his face up, dirtied as it was, and said, “It is. Allow me inside, so that I may rest myself. I will be on my way come the next rising of the moon, as is my wont.” Andsoshebadehimtocomeinside,forsherecognized the curse of YHWH and the countenance of his father. Wearing little more than the clothing of a traveler, thick with the road’s dust, she permitted him to bathe and enjoy the hospitality of her home, for Lilith knew what it was to have a life lled with enemies. His hair now oiled with sweet attars and his clothes clean, he appeared within her hall to speak with his hostess and to partake of her table. “Though cast from the house of your father,” said Lilith, attired only in the rich stones of the earth and the pearls of the sea, “I recognize the spawn of Adam the Deler.” Caine was astounded at the sight of her dark and shininghair,her bright eyes rimmedwithkohl, andher lipspaintedwithrichredandpressedwithgold 3 .Buthis eyes were drawn by the strange beauty of Moroccan 4 , her brow crowned with the numerous horns of mighty rams andibex, hung thick with golden rings andbright ribbon laden with the milk-teeth of children lost to the night, her legs belonging to that of the backwards- bending ibis, clad not in soft down but in the jeweled scales of adders 5 . “Yes. I have been cursed by the Lord to wander the Land of Nod for all my days. The esh of animals turns to ash in my mouth, and water to brine, for I killed my brotherin the throes of my wrath.I may only sup upon the bloodofthe livingasmynourishment, andnoplace is tobemyshelterformorethanone night 6 .Andyouare Lilith, matriarch of the Lilitu. You bear the mark of the owl, the cat, and the serpent 7 , and you are the beloved and the shunned bride of the Morningstar. Will you allow me to take but one drink from your handmaiden, and to make of her my companion?” He indicated Omoroca thus, where she sat at her mother’s feet. 1 Here we see the only instance of Adam presented as the Etz haChayim, or Tree of Life,to Lilith’s own Kelipot. As the latter stand for the empty husks that surround holiness, Lilith as the mother of demons — those cast from the light of the Divine, and unable to receive true unity with others. 2 The number of children appears to be deliberately exaggerated and rounded; no texts support signicance for the exact number, and indeed, anecdotalreferences differ wildly and are often highly specic. 3 I have long wondered if Caine in this tale represents the taming force of male-dominated monotheism here, where the Lilitu are the old gods of the pagans. Much mention is made of their strange forms, and here we have Lilith presented as a decadent and tempting Other, found within the wilderness. 4 “Omoroca” is another name for Tiamat, embodiment of primordial chaos of the depths. In the Mesopotamian tales, the cosmos took form through her.As withmany gods ofthe sea, she mightdemonstrate the unknown,the monstrosity inherent in the strange creatures that will always be alien to those that walk on land. In this, Caine becomes part of the Chaoskampf cycle, where a culture hero engages with a chthonic entity. 5 The monstrosity of wilderness is represented within the body of the pseudo-goddess, like that of Echidna. Considering the origins of her name, it seems likely that Omoroca was “borrowed” from various other cultures and fashioned into her own gure for the purposes of this tale. 6 Genesis 4:12: “When you cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” 7 All sacred animals to Lilith, as shown within some of her children.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 77/232 Lilith demurred. “Omoroca is among the rst of my children and among my most precious.If you wish her for yournight’s companion, shemust agree. Itisnotfor metogivetheunwillingeshofmyeshwhereImyself soughtfreedom from those that wouldbringme low8 .” “I would have her as my helpmate,” spoke the First Murderer, turning to the young demoness. “For she is as monstrous and beautiful a creature as has ever walked the Land of Nod or swam in its seas, as lovely as the birds that llthe sky orthe crawling insects that dig deep into the soil.” Upon hearing this Omoroca’s bright laughter lled the chamber hall of her mother’s great palace. “How might you make me that which is anathema to a child of the Mother of Demons? Nothing upon this Earth may lay claim to me, for I am sister to every horror that plagues the night. With every toss of my head, wild beasts kneel at my feet 9 . With every cant of my hips, I tempt men to sin. With every casual glance I mightcurdlemilkwithinthedugsof sucklingmothers 10 . What might you offer me, forsaken child of Adam?” Caine looked upon her, and his eyes were lled with wonder. “I will make for you a bridal bed as has never been seen before, and upon it I will make you my mate and my childe. The angels above will grow jealous to see the bower I create.” “I am the daughter ofthe sea andthe soil both,” said she, her lips curling into a smile that caused his heart tolooseninhis chest.“My motherwas fashionedfrom the same sediment that the rst man, yourfather, was borne from. She knows the secret name of the Lord, andhermagics causeplague andruintomankind.She deles infants not protected by the host of YHWH. And my father is the wicked Leviathan, whose great and mighty roar calls forth storms to ruin ship and sailor, and his thrashing within the deep sea causes ssures to break open in the earth. What use have I for such things?” His head ducked low, and his brow furrowed deep in thought. He said at last, “Upon your curling horns I shall hang the stars that dance in the celestial sphere. Iwilldrape youin precious gems 11 andpaint yourlips 8Asperrabbinicallore,Lilith escapedhermarriagetoAdam because he refused to lie with her as an equal. 9 A reference to Diana? 10TheattributesofOmorocaareremarkablysimilartothose that were given to witches in the old world. As Lilith was giventobe themotherofwitchesaswell,this seems tofollow. 11 I am reminded of Hephaestus’ courting of Aphrodite through these references to great wealth.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 78/232 77 withthe bloodofliars.Iwill clothe youinthenight, and make for you a trousseau of nest bone. Your retinue I will populate with those that abandon themselves to holy torments 12 for your pleasure, so that you may always hear their laments to your majesty.” Omoroca laughedagain,her eyeslled withmirthas she gestured to the ne dress she wore. “I am dressed in the silken hair of unborn animals, and my limbs are hungwiththeir bones.Mycompanions are thedemons that eat the dreams of the dying, and my siblings every evil.” Caine held his would-be wife within his dark gaze. “I will slaughter nightly for you that which I love most in the world, so that you will be the only creature I might hold in highest regard. I will give you all that I said I would and more, for your bride price.” She consideredthis,the rings upon her horns chiming sweetly,andherdarkandheavy hairarrayedincountless braidsswingingaboutherform.“Wouldyou,rstamong murderers? You, in whose mouth the esh of animals turns toashandwatertobrine?Whomayonlysupupon the blood of the living as your only nourishment? Who cannot shelterformore thanonenightinthe sameplace? You, who slaughtered your beloved brother?” AndsoOmorocapulledthene andwickeddagger 13 she wore at her hip, and held it out to him. “Then each night you will give unto me the sacrice of that which you love most, child of Adam. And I will drink deep of your pain and nd it sweet, for nothing may love me without pain.” Caine lookeduponthe knifepressedtohishand, and heldher eyes as he slicedopen his throatinto a carmine smile. So it was that upon the next rising of the moon, the pair and those that would follow left the house of Lilith. And each night, Omoroca became his bride and his childe, and took from him offerings of exquisite agonies anddelightedinthem.Her lipsbecame stained with the red of him, her teeth wicked and gleaming. Omoroca, whose every word is that of the sighing courtesan, replete with every vice and dark pleasure to be found within her purview. Omoroca, whose skin is perfumedwiththebloodofthedeled,whobathesnightly beneaththestaringeyeofthemoonamidstherinnumerable consorts asCaine wanders theLandofNodforevermore. Omoroca, childe-bride, who needs no beastto ride upon. Omoroca, borne of the coupling of the terrible night-hag Lilith and the monstrous on the shore of the wine-dark Red Sea, amidst the wailing host of her mother’s countless other children. She who cried not when she breached the womb, but laughed upon the sight of the wide and hungry world 14 . Omoroca, devourer of the sins of mankind, who suckles every lost childe upon her sweet blood, sisterto hideous and miraculous beings with the appearance of men, those furnishedwiththe fourfoldbodyofwild dogs,orthose crowned with dozens of eyes upon their brow15 . She is sibling to every horror that lls the night, dwelling in forgotten tombs and deep caverns. Omoroca, whose followers slick their mouths with sweet seed and blood 16and prayer, who dance for her garbed not in clothing but in the tattered remnants of theirownpurity,whosehandsexecutethe vilestofholy sins in her name. Her priests lie with her in the throes of their midnight Sabbaths under the empty night sky, and her priestesses mutilate their would-be lovers for her pleasure when the moon grows turgid. Omoroca, companion to Caine. Himself cursed by YHWH to never know succor, who lls his gullet with the blood of his victims but is never satiated 17 . Caine, who exalts in misery, progenitor of murder. 12 What Omoroca’s supplicants might have sacriced in her name is still under debate, even among her modern followers. The practice of self-agellation in such idolatrous worship is among the more grave of her offerings, as in Kings 18:28. “And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out on them.” 13 Among the various and sundry tribes that Omoroca might have originated from, the practice of carrying a small knife for self-defense was common. In giving her knife to Caine, the force of dominating masculinity and domestication, she is disarming herself and demonstrating her trust of him. Again, this tale might be some manner of composite story. Caine is presented as folk-hero and civilizing force, though the ultimate domination of Omoroca over him instead of the usual fable of the masculine conquering the feminine and wild. 14 A possible reference to Eris, goddess of discord. 15 This is one of the few times that the Omoroca of the Babylonians is produced, as in the history by A. Polyhistor. He writes of her attended by beings monstrous and horrible, who themselves might call back to the origins of Lilith as a twin of Adam. 16 Blood, semen, and urine are three of the substances given to holiness within some circles, for these are the secretions producedbythe livingbody. Omoroca’s cultistsportrayedasdecadentpagansgiventoorgies is oflittle surprise, considering what are listed as her purviews. 17 Omoroca and Caine both are well matched in their gluttony. This might be some allegory for the eventual failure of civilization, for in the end we are nothing but what we hunger for.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 79/232 78 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER I write these words from where I sit in the quarters accorded to me in the ghost of the Black Citadel of the DarkFather,intheghostoftheFirstCity calledEnoch, resting still upon the high place where it sat when the waters of the Deluge swallowed it and all the makings of man in a time before human reckoning. They are, as apartments within the Black Citadel are concerned, apparently quite spare. My most frequent companion these nights, Sophia-Amunet, the Second Assistant Librarian to Lorekeeper Tayumet, is thoroughly appalled by what appears to be a potentially insulting lack of creature comforts, but I am neither affronted nor dismayed. Luxury is not a requirement of my existence so much as a thing pleasant to have while I may, on which I waste no thought when I have not. Sophia-Amunet has, nonetheless, exerted herself of lmate to improve my surroundings, and thus I sit upon y apartment’s balcony overlooking a vast garden court in the sort of silk-cushioned chair I have not owned since my youth — my breathing youth, at that! — with a table of carved teak inlaid with ebony at my elbow, which bears the scrivener’s case that holds my writing tools, and a scribe’s lapboard sits on my knee. I have lamps burning perfumed oils to chase away the shadows,as much as they can be banished in this dark place, and braziers to keep the cold from my hands. My oor, bare when I arrived, is now covered ankle-deep in the sort of carpets once woven in Samarkand, and my bed quite possibly once belonged to a Babylonian prince. Every other night, it seems, Sophia-Amunet arrives bearing some new book or scroll or palimpsest; I have accumulated quite a collection in my receiving room, where in between my (admittedly few) ofcial duties, I have begun working my way through them. I am, I have been assured repeatedly, not a prisoner. I amnotrequired,byanycommandmentoftheDel’Rohor theWazir council, to keep to these rooms.IfI am denied entry to any portion of the city,I should rest assured that allothers—or nearlyallothers—aresimilarlyforbidden. I am certain that, to some extent, this is true. The Oath I have sworn binds and compels me more efciently than any physical chain, barring my passage more effectively thanany lockedandguardeddoor.Themagics thatIzhim ur-Baal etched into my esh and soul hold me, in their own way, even more tightly.I cannot departEnoch, even had I the wish or the power to do so. But I am not a prisoner. Ikeeptotheseroomsbecauseevery timeI leavethem I amreminded, sometimes forcefully,sometimes subtly, precisely how much of a prisoner I am. The Del’Roh andher advisorsmay gildthe truthofit asmuchas they like, mouth empty courtesies at the council table, and assuremethattheshakariwhoguard mydoorarethere formyprotection.Inthespiritof absolute honesty,that may be the truth. I am reasonably certain that half the seraphim wish to see me skinned with copper knives, rolled in salt, and then dipped repeatedly in a vat of boiling, blessed oil; it is not unreasonable to assume thatlesser personages mightwish me more than a trace elementof harm.Verywell,I will give themthe guards. I am not certain that I can extend similar allowance to the things I see ickering out of the corner of my eyes whenever I step into the nearly empty corridors of this vast, echoing tomb of a palace, or out into the streets of this vast, echoing tomb of a city.I would love with whatis left of myheart to lose myselffor anhour, a night, forever, in the garden that spreads out at my feet, and I cannot bring myself to do so. I am never alone, and the sensation of unseen eyes upon me, of being constantly watched and weighed and measured, would poison any pleasure in solitude that might try to nd there. Mycuriositygnawsattheroots ofmywill,begs forthe chance to ask Sophia-Amunet to show me the library her master governs, that I may assuage my absolute skull-cracking boredom with the accumulated lore of a thousand nations and even more thousands of years.I force it to settle for the diversions she smuggles in to me — collections of the lost poetry of the ancients, a thick volume of plays penned by the dramatists of the Second City, a selection of eye-searingly lurid novels from across the vast gulfs ofCainite time, and treatises on philosophy, art, and history. I have forced myself to ration my consumption of them, lest I run short and nd my sanity fracturing completely; fortunately, I thought to bring my instruments with me, and have consumedsomeofthe timebetweenSophia-Amunet’s visits setting that ancientandforgottenpoetrytomusic. I amnot a prisoner,butI confess Ibelieve I amlosing my mind from allthe freedom thatI gave away to come to this place, to offer what I can to these people. Ihavedone this ofmy ownwill andcannotnorwould not undo it. I have given myself and all who follow me — the kin of my own blood and those we have taken into our fold, the allies who have joined their skills and knowledge to our own — to the purposes of the Tal’Mahe’Ra, fortheir way more than any other aligns with ours.They know of the threats and the dangers — they know, and more importantly, they believe as only

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 80/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 79 those who have faced peril from beyond the borders of our world themselves would, without the sort of demonstrations of truth that would shatter the minds and souls of lesser beings. They are as invaluable as allies as they were implacable as enemies, and I would never invite the retribution turning away from them would bring down upon my people.I willdo whatever I must to prove my… or perhaps, to prove our worth to them in this long and terrible struggle. And yet I cannot help wishing that there had been another way. I am still capable of at least that much foolishness. • • • Ifound them wedged in the middle of one of the more readablenovels—neverletitbesaidthattheLanguedocien CourtsofLovefailedtoproduceworksatleast asshocking to common sensibilities as their northern cousins.Three sheets of paper of a far lesser grade than the novel’s pages, glued expertly into the binding to avoid a telltale differentiationintheedging,writteninanentirelydifferent handandan entirelydifferentlanguage.Alanguage,point in fact, that I did not recognize, much less speak. The authorusedtheNabataeanscript,butthe words themselves were neitherArabic nor any of theAramaic tongues that preceded it, a fact I found puzzling to say the least. Less puzzlingbutonlyslightlymoreilluminating:atthebottom ofthenal page lay a sigil, carefullyhand-drawn,of apale crescent moon edging a black lunar disk and bleeding a drop of darkness from its lower curve. That, I did know. Ihadcrossedpathsmorethanoncewiththosecultsthat revered the Great Dark Mother who called themselves the Bahari. More often than not, those meetings were of a civil kind, if not entirely peaceful. The Bahari are often, wrongly, conated with infernalists by both the Camarilla and the Sabbat, hunted and hounded from their havens, sent to the Final Death with sunlight and re. They expect persecution when they are found and are not swift to trust, even when they are greeted with the ancient, formal hospitality of a koldun witch-priest offering the safety of his domain to his pagan siblings. When such meetings occur, they are dark wonders to behold, and I have had that privilege in the mountain fastnesses of the East, where the most ancient of the Tzimisce still rule and worship as they have in ages past and invite their Bahari cousins to do likewise.The symbol at the bottom of that page was derived from Ba’hara,thepictogram-languageemployedby theGreat DarkMother’s adherents as analternative tomore easily decoded tongues and which they used to mark places, and sometimes people, of signicance to their worship. That sigil, whichIhad rst seenbranded into the gently rounded belly of a matronly Ba’ham priestess as she danced the res on midsummer’s eve, meant magic. Itasted a mystery.With great care I copied those pages intothenotebookthatIkeptforscribblingpurposes then, as subtly as possible, went about checking the rest of the stackofnovels foranyother inclusions.Ithadoccurredto methat,justpossibly,theoriginofthosepageswasSophia- Amunet herself, but that possibility waned as I worked my way through the stack and found no more pages out of place, no notations in unknown languages, or Ba’hara pictograms scrawled in margins.Iresolved to share them with herwhen next we spoke,butI doubted that shehad been aware of their presence — but now that I knew, it kindled a curiosity in me that refused to be quenched. • • • The history of the Bahari is a long and woeful one for many reasons, inextricably tied as they are to the murky, complex, acrimonious relationship between the Great Dark Mother and the First Murderer. Among Cainites, many tales are told of the treacherous perdy of the QueenoftheNight,MotherofDemons,whowithmalice and deceit lured the Dark Father into her garden with soft words and promises of peace and succor, only to fulll them with curses from her and the servants of the MostHigh,whosheencouragedtheDarkFathertodefy. Others speak of hundreds, if not thousands, of years of conict between them, the destruction and blighting of lands, curses hurled, blood shed, hatred mortared into the very walls of Enoch and watering the night- uonwering plants of the Great Dark Mother’s garden, til both were glutted and weary but not appeased. Some tales — particularly those in high favor among the Tal’Mahe’Ra these nights — speak of peace nally growingbetweenthemlikesomestrange,blood-drinking ower,theQueenoftheNight sending threeofhermost precious children to the city of the Dark Father as an offering ofbloodforblood, andthose threebecamepart of the Thirteen of the Third Generation. In such ways, among others, the Tal’Mahe’Ra seeks to draw togetherthe broods of the First Murderer and the Mother of Demons. Among the Children of the Dark FthaethBearh,tahr i is,tehffeoDrtasrekemFast thoehr aisvkenboowrnneassommaenfyruthiti .nAgms:othneg inlaying son of their goddess’ pitiful and inadequate rst husband, the student who despised the lessons of pain she taught to him even as he mastered the seeds of her wisdom,the deler of her divine esh, the despoiler of her garden of renewal and repose, and the murderer of hermostbelovedchildren,those shebore toherbeloved, theStarofMorning.Noplacationorcomfortwaspossible forthe vengeful goddess, for all she most loved was torn from her,leaving behind only the black fruits of her grief

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 81/232 80 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER and wrath. I have had the privilege of witnessing some of their rites and, in honesty, I can see how the children of the Dark Father would come to believe them infernal, whentheirownClansiresaredepictedaslittlemorethan ravening, bloodthirsty savages who tore the children of the Queen of theNight and the Lightbearerto shreds at the command of the demoniacal jackal that is the Dark Father. To him and those spawned from him, she offers nothing but the fruits from her garden of suffering, and only to those who refuse the paths he lays out for them and turn instead to hers, seeking out the wisdom that cuts and burns and bleeds, etching it into esh and soul by the medium of instructive agony. One wonders if the Bahari have made quite as much peacewiththeChildrenoftheDarkFatheras theychoose tobelieve.Onehastakensomeamusementfromwatching the theological contortions oftheorthodox adherents of the Road of the Dark Father in order to justify treating the First Murderer and the Mother of Demons as two masa anb is fe trsa ta c t t ifoonrsceos f ,t thw eo sh amalve e e sno t f ita y s .iTn hg e le y c to ry smtoic trp e ra itn tchiepmle of existence transcending the death of the esh. It is, at some level, an attractive notion. If I knew less of what lived inthe darkness beyond their constant push me-pull you struggle, I might nd some comfort in it.However, as the Dark Mother teaches, wisdom has burnt blacker truths into me, and I cannot take comfort in self-chosen blindness. I doubt that the Bahari have chosen to take that comfort, either, but those who have come to the service of the Tal’Mahe’Ra at least appear to have done so in earnest and for that I cannot fault them. One such Ba’ham found intellectual sanctuary in the sectionoftheGreatLibraryadministered byLoremaster Tayumet.Ifoundmyselfinhercompanysomeweeksafter mydiscovery, sharing the tranquility ofmybalconywith both her and Sophia-Amunet, who had dragged along with her a cart loaded down with philology texts and vaguely musty scrolls of slightly less forbidden history. Thepriestess gavehername asNadezhda, andwhile she was admirably wary, she accepted my hospitality easily enough when I offered her the traditional, respectful greetings owed to a celebrant ofthe Great Dark Mother. We spoke of our mutual sojourns in the East.She and herclosest companionsdweltfora timeinthedomainof aTzimisce ancient who recognized more than a trace of theDarkMotherinherownworshipofMatiSyraZemlya. She nobly refrained from questioning me too closely regarding how my own had come into the service of the Tal’Mahe’Ra. Sophia-Amunet managed to not perish of annoyance at the tendency of two elderly vampires to avoid cutting directly to the chase and getting on with matters, though I decided to spare her too much aggravation and brought out the clean copy of the text thatI had inscribed on its own scroll some nights prior.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 82/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 81 Nadezhda was, to put it mildly, quite vocally shocked, appalled,andmorethanslightlywroth.TheBaharicherish a prohibition against committing their rituals, rites, and doctrinetothewrittenword,preferringtopassdownthe wisdomoftheMotherthroughoraltraditionandactions thatscatterseedsofpainandenlightenmenttothosethat survivethem.Herfuryslowlydiedandchangedtocuriosity wshhe ehne srhse elfexc aomul idnendot thre ecpoag gneiszemtohre elcanlog suea lyge anind wfohuinchd it was written, only the pictogram at the end. Like me, she sensed some slumbering power within those words that we lacked the key to unlock, but which felt real and numinous nonetheless. She agreed to search among her peopleforthosewhomightpossessthe knowledgeofany written archive of Bahari lore and theoretically possess practicalknowledgeofthelanguagesof northernArabia and their precursors. We agreed to reconvene at her convenience, as I was not in danger of going anywhere, and because doing so would allow Sophia-Amunet and I to continue our own research in the meantime. That worthy young woman chose that moment to unload the contents of her cart.The fragments of the so-called “Lilith Cycle” thatreside within the Guarded Rubrics are outside the sphere of her authority within the library. However, the assorted commentaries on them are available to any serious historical scholar, as are most of the documents related to the Bahari and their travails throughout the centuries.A few of those documents contained reasonably accurate renditions of Bahari sigils, including several I already knew and severalI did not.Nadezhda conrmed or corrected the sigils’ authenticity as the situation required. For the sake of clarity, and perhaps aiding in our search, she quickly (and with much discomfort and reluctance) sketched out a page of the most common sigils used in Bahari ritual parlance and what they meant. She also suggestedthat, sincewehadfoundthepageshiddenin a novel written by a Cainite, we might wish to research theauthor.Afterall,theauthor couldhaveincluded the page as opposed to a laterhand, concealing knowledge thatwould otherwisebe lost.Admittedly,thatapproach that had not occurred to me; a failure of imagination on my part,Ifear.Sophia-Amunet allowed made some sense, given that the book dated from a particularly unsettled period in the history of the Courts of Love. I took the philology texts as penance for my lack of vision and we parted, hopefully to meet again soon. • • • I saw the cat for the rst time after spending nearly three uninterrupted nights immersed in the history and development of the Semitic language tree and its myriaddialectical variants.Undermostcircumstances, the opportunity to quietly study a topic unrelated to someone else’s entrails and their ritual uses would have delighted me enormously; as it stood, I found mostlyfrustrationinmy efforts.I startedtosuspectthat the author chose the Nabataean script for its value in adding an extra layer of obfuscation, and that I would nd no true relationship between the language and the alphabet used to create or recreate it. I tested the waseI igwhot uof ldthweewreortdhseyonanma yc t tounagl udeia ,lpe rcotnoofuAnrca ibnigc,thaenmd found them pleasingly free-owing, almost musical. It was then that I began seeing the cat.It was subtle, at rst — a itter of motion in the corner of my eye like the ickering movement of a ghost slipping in and out of visibility,but fading completely underintent focus. In fact,I originally thoughtit was one of Enoch’s many residents that had left their mortal coils behind, going about some errand that required their path to briey intersect my own. I returned to my reading, letting the words fall off my tongue in slightly different ways. After all, Arabic has an enormous number of dialects and sub-dialects,some ofthem wholly extinct in terms of usage, others breathing their last, and still others so different from the parent tongue that they might as well be a separate language entirely. Something brushed against my leg — something soft andsinuousandimbuedwithwarmththatnoghostcould ever have—and itrequired all of my many years of hard- wonself-possessionto avoid leaping outof my chair and squawking inalarm.The animaltwining itself around my ankles rewarded my forbearance with a bone-rattling purr and leapt into my lap, perching there as though it belongednowhereelseandhadevery right tostakesuch a claim. This almost unsettled me more than the sudden appearance of a manifestly living creature in the depths of the Underworld. As a general rule, animals do not like me and frequently have to be forcefully discouraged from attempting to claw out my eyes, tear out my throat, or otherwise savage any parts of my body unwarily left in striking range. This one, with sleek pelt awlessly black from the tips of its forward-swiveled ears to the tip of its idly curling tail and eyes the palely-gleaming gold of a high summer moon, appeared to suffer no such hostile inclinations,and even submitted to a light, quick scratch of its ears. Satised, it leapt back down and found itself a wide, at oor cushion that struck its fancy, curled up, and promptly went to sleep. I found a piece of blank foolscap and wrote what I suspect was a rather rambling and unfocused note, in which I asked if Enoch had any sizable population of living animals, strays or otherwise. I sealed the note and gave itto one of the shakari atthe doorwith instructions todeliverittoSecondAssistantLibrarianSophia-Amunet immediately, if not sooner. I felt unsettled in mind and

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 83/232 82 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER weariedin body,as thoughI hadjustwokenfroma sleep that left me just short of ravenous. I settled down on the cushionimmediately adjacenttothecat andbeganasking it a number of questions regarding its origins and how it came to be where it was, which I felt were rational and intelligent questions to ask.Itresponded to by opening one golden eye and rolling over onto its back in a silent demand for a belly rub. I provided it, my ngers sinking into warm fur. A weighty lassitude lled my mind and limbs as I did so, as though my physical strength and mental focus were pouring out of my ngertips.At some pointIfell to my side,my body too heavy to hold upright any longer.My last clearrecollection was of a warm feline nose bumping against my lips and a roughfeline tongue pressingakiss therebefore darknessowedovermeand pulled me down into it. • • • The Black Citadel does, in fact, have something vbaygvuierltyuereosfewmabkli inngg iannit i,nshramckalreyd. Itodt ihsceofvrearmede othf ias bed heavy enough to resist any attempt to move it. I suspect it was actually a carved basalt block from the lack of give. My brain was a lead sculpture inside my skull, and my body pulsed with the sort of thrashing, red-hot hunger that I usually only experienced after vast expenditures of vitae. No windows pierced the walls, and so I had no means of gauging where in the Citadel I might be; I was alone in the room, with no curtainorscreentoobstructmyviewoftheother empty beds or the single portal at the far end, also without door or curtain. A part of me wished to sink back into the comforting, soporic darkness, while a larger, far more vocal part of me shouted for rescue, or at least attention. Fortunately, I was heard — the nurse, for want of a better term, was a ghost, well-starched and utterly lacking in nonsense, who summoned assorted others to my bedside. First, a vessel was provided to sate my savage hunger, then Sophia-Amunet came in the company of Lorekeeper Tayumet and, to my intermingled discomfort and surprise, Izhim ur-Baal. They all, perforce, waited until I refreshed myself and was pronounced sane enough to be unchained beforepouncingonmewithquestions.Sophia-Amunet stopped just short of physically shaking me,demanding to know when I had succeeded in translating the pages and why I had not summoned her before making use of them and did I know what would happen when I did. My native honesty forced me to admit that I had not translated them thatI had simply read them aloud, and something in the reading had affected me with unexpectedstrength.I alsomentionedthecatthatmade its presence known to me, and asked if Enoch had any resident living animals.I did notrecall seeing any, but as the city sometimes contains more living chatterlings than Cainites,Ithought it not impossible. Lorekeeper Tayumet gently drew her away then, afterreceiving my leavetoenter myquartersand examinethepages.Their exitleftmequitealone withIzhimur-Baal,knownmore commonly as Izhim abd’Azrael, shakar First Seraph of the Tal’Mahe’Ra, sorcerer, warrior, adviser to the Del’Roh, a true Methuselah of the Children of Haqim, and my personal patron and keeper. Heseatedhimselfnexttomybedsideandregardedme withthesteady,evenconsiderationof asharkpondering where best to bite,eyes obsidian chips in his sculpted onyx face.Whenhe nally spoke,he informed me that, had he not bound my tongue to speak only truth with his own hands, he would think me the baldest of liars, for no one would believe even the idea of nding a lost fragment of Bahari scripture bound into the pages of a trashy medievalromance novel. (Itranslate loosely: we werespeaking theTyriandialectofmy youth.)Ipointed out, carefully, thatI had not considered the possibility of Bahari scripture until recently, given their general disdain for both settled doctrine and written evidence of their beliefs, and that the mismatch of language and scriptintriguedme,aswellas thepictogram.I suspected the possibility of learned commentary, not a religious devotional,whichwouldhavehada certaindeleterious effect on my person. The Seraph pointed out, sharply, thatI had been affected deleteriously,laying fully torpid for three days and nights, which came as a singularly unpleasantsurpriseaswellas freshintelligence.Hehad sensed the wards around my quarters registering an intrusion, and my guards found me lying insensible on the balcony, but had found no signs of violence or any trace of another in my quarters, unliving or otherwise. Then he demanded to know about the cat, because he thought he saw one, as well. • • • I was subsequently granted a certain degree of limited access to documents and materials in what Sophia-Amunet cheekily referred to as the Restricted Sectionof HogwartsLibrary, specically those aspects of the Guarded Rubrics that dealt with the Great Dark Mother and the lore surrounding her. (I suspect that Ipnow owe Izhim ur-Baal my rst-born childe.) This roved to be a great benece, for it allowed us to call onLorekeeperTayumet and her vast knowledge of the archive’s contents, forbidden and otherwise. It also granted us a research space in the library, one of the side rooms equipped with warded locks, cold-burning lamps, and even a small chaise for Sophia-Amunet to rest on — she occasionally needed to sleep, after all. It did seem, as Izhim ur-Baal indicated, that we had found a lost fragment of Bahari scripture — scripture, in

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 84/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 83 this case, being fundamentally indistinguishable from a documentary form of magic; a written spell, in essence. The library contained one other such example,far older than my own and contained within a special preservative apparatus of warded wood and glass that kept it from harm at unwary hands.Like my own, it was writteninthe Nabataeanscript but ona ragged sheet of papyrus, slowly falling apart underthe weight ofits own centuries.These fragmentsdidnotcontainthe samespell,thoughtcertain phrases recurred in each, almost like repeating couplets in a poem. I carefully did not speak either aloud, having learned my lesson the rst time when it came to giving voice to incantations of unknown provenance. Incomfortableretrospect,aninvocationthatcouldonly be triggered by speaking it aloud made a considerable quantity of sense. The Bahari focus on oral history, song, and poetry, and performed dramas as part of the traditionalpracticeoftheirrites.Allindicatedapropensity for using the voice as a vehicle for power; many forms omf blood sorcery do so, such as my own, though it also akes use of the simple power of the written word as a binding agent. (Witness Izhim ur-Baal, his skin etched with the scripts of his magic; witness the bindings he burned into my own esh, more visible for my lack of dark Assamite skin.) Our contemplation of this led to a secondrealization:theNabataeanscripthadbeenchosen for its phonographic values in relation to the language it represented. The script taught the reader how to speak the words,if notwhatthewords themselves meant—the speaker did not have to know the meaning in order to successfully invoke their power. Sophia-Amunet and I positedthattheoriginallanguagewasdepictedthrougha writtensyllabary thatlackedthelinguisticsophistication necessarytoproducealltherequiredsounds,orpossessed easily mistakable phonemes when spoken aloud from a written source, and so its speakers sought out a more precise method ofrepresenting their tongue. Ofcourse,whatitmeantwaswhatweactuallywanted to know. • • • One does not make oneself persistently obnoxious to the likes ofIzhim ur-Baalwithout possessing a few fairly nfoor taobnlee’ps eorswonnacliotnytinauwesd: aexciosmtenpcleet,ef loarckexoafmcopnlec,eronr possibly a reckless disregard for property, personal or public. I did not think I possessed these aws when I submitted our initial report on our comparison of the twofragments.Includedinourconclusionswasa request for access to secured thaumaturgic laboratory space in whichtoperformtheinvocationsundermorecontrolled circumstances. We also requested the assistance of another sorcerer for purposes of observation. In the meantime, we continued searching the library for more fragments, a time-consuming process in itself. After nearly a month, my request was denied. I confess that I was not at my most diplomatic when I went to Izhim ur-Baal’s chambers and more or less demanded entrance and an audience with him immediately,if not sooner.The puzzle of the fragments gnawed at me.I woke with the memory of a cat’s tongue onmy lips.I sawthe spark of goldeneyes in the shadows everywhereIwent,thesinuous twiningoffurandwarmth around my ankles jarred me more than once from my concentration. Somewhere along the way, it became more than a diverting intellectual exercise in recovering lost history, to the point of genuine obsession. In my most rational moments, I could admit it had become an obsession when I rst spoke the invocation, but my rationality was not always the whip driving me. I believe that the First Seraph may have realized that and taken it into account when he nally summoned me into his presence and made a few excruciatingly unpleasant adjustments to the bindings he had laid on me, using heated copper wire and blessed oil. It had the salutary effect of clearing my mind once both the agony and the subsequent dissociation into higher consciousness subsided. He still sat astride my hips, pinning them to the oorin much the same way that my wristswerepinned(thoughwithfewerobsidian-bladed knives), thumb talons still sunk into the ajna plexus in the center of my forehead, the rest of his ngers curled close enough to my eyes to blind me in a single swipe if necessary. His eyes were xed on mine, and I could feel his presence moving through my thoughts like a cold breeze caressing black sand.It took all my strength not to struggle against the intrusion as he touched my memories, contemplated, considered. Eventually, he withdrew, ordered me to rest, and departed, returning some hours later with the permission of the Del’Roh to conduct further experiments with the fragments.He wouldpersonallyoverseethemastheobservingsorcerer. • • • We acquired a laboratory located outside the Black Citadel itself. The building, located in a quarter of the city once devoted wholly to scholarly pursuits, still held the echo of ancient magics in its walls, defensive and otherwise,inadditiontothenewerwardstructuresbuilt since its recovery.I was permitted to prepare the space according to my own specications and satisfaction, scouringwalls,oor,andritualimplements withblooded salt andwatertakenfromtheSea ofShadows.Iwrote an extralayerofwardsusingthemingledblood ofthosewho wouldattendwiththeintentofparticipation.Inthiscase,

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 85/232 84 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER I would do the actual speaking of the words, but three others would attend to detect and control any results: Izhim ur-Baal, Loremaster Tayumet, and Nadezhda. Others, who had been perforce apprised of our plans, wereinvitedtoattendasobservers.SeveralLoremasters possessed an academic interest in the ritual, and while Sophia-Amunet was too young to be directly involved, she was inextricably tied to the situation and deserved to see its resolution. These worthies were seated in a gallery ringing the laboratory itself, which in many ways resembled nothing so much as an operating theatre in a teaching hospital, its ceiling open to the Underworld’s sky. I wondered, more than once, what sort of displays the ancients had conducted in such places, when the Dark Father ruled the city. We gathered on a night that the ghost-memory of a full moon rode the sky above Enoch. Its ghostlight fell through the compluvium in the laboratory’s roof, glinting on the fresh-drawn lines of ground salt and bth oenle in ae s sho a fnd drwie ad shb i lno god a .nT yh re emora i ignin inag l d tro a c cu emofe rn e tds w froerme safe in the Black Citadel’s library — I had taken the precaution of memorizing them both. Nevertheless, I took my place in the center of the circle with some degree oftrepidation.Ihad precisely no idea ifreciting the invocation would work again and, if it did, what effect it would have on me, attempting it twice. I had also not voiced any objection priorto this — it seemed impossible to do so, given what I had already done — and it was entirely too late to back away from it now. Izhimur-Baal,LoremasterTayumet, andNadezhda took theirplaces inthecircle andperformedtheriteof closure, sealing us within a barrier of linked and overlapping wards—a rituallyconsecratedliminal spacewithinaplace that was already liminal by its very nature,the ghostlands between true life and true death.Itruly feltthat degree of separationfortherst time,standinginthat circle,etching itself into my awareness with each level of ward binding, resounding in my blood.Evenas they closed Ifelt... open, as though I, in my person, were a door standing slightly ajar, a breath of cold wind and a ray of pale light passing through me. I began speaking almost without conscious volition, syllables rolling off my tongue with an ease my rst effort had lacked, and suddenly I knew that this was notmerelyan incantation,butasong.Acradlesong,sweet and primal as a mother’s voice in the dark, and I sang it again,the words searing my tongue and boiling my blood even as Izhim ur-Baal’s binding will upon me burnt my esh and spirit. The cat simply manifested itself at the end of my third repetition, curling sinuously around my ankles where nothing but air stood before,with fur black as moonless midnight and eyes golden sun-sparks in its face.I sensed a vast but oddly not terrible amusement as it paced the connes of the circle, arching itself against Nadezhda’slegsandremainingtositatherfeet,idlybathing its tail with a smoke-white tongue. Ibeganthesecondinvocation withsong.ThoughIhad never spokenitbefore thatmoment,I knewthe cadence theway Iknew thesyllables ofmyownTrueName,knew the rhythm and how it would sound when, if,I set it to music. The pain that speared through me, which had subsided between invocations,rose again, breathtaking and delicious.At the end of the third repetition, talons dug into my shoulder from behind and broad, soft wings fanned the air before their ownerlaunched itself away.An owl with plumage all the shades of the moon’s face in full eclipse, crimson and orange and black with faint silver tracery catching the ghostlight, ew a full turn around the circle before lighting on Lorekeeper Tayumet’s shoulder, to her visible consternation. Its eyes were also golden, gleaming brightly in the dished feathers of its face, just above a esh-tearing beak. I felt a third invocation welling up inside me, words I had never read, and it burst forth from my lips before I could even think of stopping it, the knowledge of them pouring through me like a burning cold sea rising. Through the sound of itringing in my skull, moving my tongue absent any will of my own, I heard the startled exclamations of two of my colleagues and the silence of thethird,felthiseyesonmewithnearlypredatoryintent. The third invocationtortured my raw throat and tongue with its sibilants and lled my mouth with the taste of my own blood, caustic and poisonous. I felt something far colder and even more sinuous than the cat coiled about me. A serpent as thick as my forearm unwound itself and slid the length of my body from I know not where, its scales the sleek, wet sheen of moonlight on water, with slit-pupiled eyes of amber. It also traversed the circle, nearly long enough to touch the tip ofits own tail as it came back to the beginning.Izhim ur-Baal knelt to receive it, murmuring something in a voice too low to catch the words. It settled about his shoulders in heavy silver coils, blood-red tongue tasting the air. I stood, swaying on my feet, and I knew that I was not yet done. Something else was coming, following the path forged by cat, by owl, by serpent, and some part of me knew to gaze upon that thing could easily be my end. I could not refuse to look. Now that I had begun, I could not choose,not to be the vessel forthis thing, whateverit was, orwould be;I could only serve it. A hopeless pain more exquisite than any I had known knifed through me, split open my mind and soul and pulled me higher than I had ever been before, into a vast, star-splashed darkness. I stood on the edge of darkwater,tidewashingrhythmically aboutmy ankles, a bloody crescent moon riding impossibly huge just above the far horizon.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 86/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 85 You have spoken my words and summoned my servants to you, that moon said to me in a voice that was not a voice.I fell to my feet, bowing my face to the wet sand, humble in the presence of a being who could unmake all that I was with less than a thought. It did not need me to speak to know my afrmation and it continued, every word strumming the bers of my being with ngers of velvety anguish. You come to me of your own will. Vines twined around my arms and throat, black as char andstuddedwiththorns the lengthof a largeman’s nger, digging into my back like a lover’s talons in the throes of passion, jerking me upright on my knees, twisting into my hair, and forcing my face up toward the sky. The sea receded and I closed my eyes, already burning in their sockets,as unshod feet stepped upon the sand before me and a soft hand, sweet with strange perfumes, caressed my cheek like a brand of holy re. So afraid,in such pain. Ifcoming beforeme is such a trial, child, why do you undertake it? The thorn-bearing vines curled tighter, drawing blood, and Ifeltthe tongue thatlapped it up as a brand that seared to the bone.The presence before me went suddenly and utterly still, like the wind gathering itself before thehowlingblastof a hurricane.Ibracedmyself for it, knowing I could no more stand against it than I could against the sunrise. Mychildren.Softly,sosoftly,like thedawnbreezeover the desert. Your hands arewetwith the blood of thosewho would enslavethemselvesto my children, twistthemasthey themselves havetwisted. I nodded, unable to speak, the thorns digging deep into my throat. Lips brushed my ear and Ifelt their smile, sweet and cruel. My blessings upon you, little hunter, for you have chosen a path of grief. And it burned through me then, sending me thrashing against the vines and thorns holding me, longing forthe voice to scream.Givethem the gift of your mercy — wisdom is wasted on fools. The presencewithdrew then, and I came back to myself sosuddenlyIwouldhavefallenhadI notalreadybeenon my knees. I forced my eyes, gummed shut with my own blood,toopen,andfoundmycolleaguesfrozenwherethey stood.Nadezdha’s facewas amaskofjoyous,bloody tears, exultant, exalted. Lorekeeper Tayumet looked as though shedesperatelywishedshecouldabandonthedignityof her ofce and rejoice likewise,her expression rapturous. Izhimur-Baal’s eyesheldmyown,expressionless chipsof obsidian,his carved onyx lips curved back inthe slightest of smiles. I managed enough focus of mind to croak at them to unbind the circle and pitched forward, the salt- marked oor rushing up to meet my face. My memories beyond that moment are fragments at best, slivers of imagery and ickers of sense-memory. I sensed the dissolution of the circle, felt strong arms gather me up, and heard forthe rst time the babble of voicesfromtheobservers,whoseexistenceIhadentirely forgotten. I remember a ceiling not my own and a bed that was little more than a slab of basalt incised over its mirror-polished surface with symbols I half-knew and half-did-not. My arms and back and throat ached and throbbed, worse than the kiss of holy word and demon re put together, and the pain dragged me down more than once into blood-tinged darkness. I remember the taste of another’s blood in my mouth, burning rich, old and strong, as Izhim ur-Baal fed me from his own veins while I healed,his hands on me, exploring. When I nally woke, I was weak and hungry but in my ownquarters, wrapped in my ownblankets, and saw for the rst time what the blessing I had received had done to me.Waxing and waning crescents still marked my palms,encircled now ina spiky braid—wovenvines it seemed — and below that, running the length of my arm from wrist to elbow, the Bahari symbols of serpent and owl and cat.Wings spread across my shoulders and the twisting serpentine body of the dragon crawled the length of my spine. Looking upon them, one mostly sees the ne black lines of upraised scars; looking more closely, one can see those lines are script, impossibly tMiny characters etchedas though withthe tipof aneedle. ore than once, Izhim ur-Baal has run his ngers over them and smiled a smile thatreaches the midnight well of his eyes. I am not entirely comforted by that. The contemplation has likewise granted me a gift of insight, and I have taken it upon myself to codify that insight, that others may make use of it as well. I append my initial efforts to this report, and hope that it nds satisfaction in your eyes. By my own hand, Sahar-Hanibaal, Childe of Tanitbaal-Sahar Childe of Tanit Childe of Moloch Dominion of the Order of Moloch

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 87/232 86 CHAPTER TWO: BAHARI — CULT OF THE DARK MOTHER Thaumaturgy Path: The Blessings of the Great Dark Mother A thaumaturgic path of relatively recent development, the Blessings of the Great Dark Mother draws directly upon the nature of her spirit-beast servants — Cat, Owl, Serpent, and Dragon among them — to assistthe ashipu in their struggles against the infernal. Despite the sobriquet “Mother of Demons,” Lilith’s children are almost never either denizens of Hell or cast-off remnants of the Outer Dark, but the offspring of her many unions with strange and wonderful beings. Partaking of Lilith’s essence and that of her mates, these unions produce entities that are unique admixtures of spiritual and physical, whose mu- tability of substance renders them vulnerable to abuse by the ignorant and the unscrupulous. The techniques used by the sorcerers of the First Tribe to subtly alter the true Names of the Children of the Outer Dark, the ritually enforced expectations of mortal demonologists, and the potent true magic of the Awakened can all force the Lilin into demoniacal form. The arts of this path can liberate them from this bondage and distort, disrupt, and defile the unholy pacts and bonds between an infernalist and their genuinely diabolical masters and minions. • Cradlesong The ashipu utters an incantation that reveals to her the nature of any pacts, bonds, or spiritual ties to other beings withinaudiblerangeofhervoice.Thesebonds appeardiffer- ently to each ashipuwhoemploysthe cradlesong, depending strongly on her preferred sensory stimulus. Some see the bonds as threads of light wrapped around others, pulsing with colors that define their nature; others hear them as a richand complex songwhose internal melodies,harmonies, tempo, and beat contain the information they require.Most properly sung, the incantation can also be simply spoken, whistledusing theappropriatenotes,orplayedwordlesslyon amusicalinstrumentasatonepoem;electronicamplification can and does increase its effective range. System:Theashipu singsher cradlesong,spendsoneblood point, and rolls Perception + Occult(difficulty equalto the highest current Willpower rating of the individuals in the group, or the current Willpower rating of the individual if attempting to affect a singular target). If successful, the song causes any and all infernal pacts, spiritual pacts, and voluntary or involuntary bonds of any kind (including the blood bond) to become “visible” in some way to the caster. •• Kessep The firstborn son of Lilith and Lucifer was named “Silver” for the light of the Moon, a hue reflected in the bright silver scales of the serpent that serves the Great Dark Mother.The serpentsometimesfunctions as one of her many forms,symbolic of purity and purification. The ashipu who calls upon the argent serpent sings,speaks, or plays an invocation that allows her to select one infernal orspiritual bond and purify the owner of it— severing the ties of bound spirits or demons. This invocation cannot severthebloodbond(nomatterhowinvoluntarilyitmight have been entered into), nor can it undo an infernal pact. System: The ashipu invokes the gift of the argent ser- pent,spendingonebloodpoint and rollingManipulation + Occult, with a difficulty equal to the target’s current Willpower. If successful, the invocation causes a single selected bond between the target and an enthralled spirit or bound demon to be broken. This, of course, frees the previously bound spirit or demon to flee,take vengeance, or visit whatever consequences of bondage they prefer upon their former owner. •••Sotheq The second-born son of Lilith and Lucifer was named “Silence,” forthepeace andstillnessofD’hainu,theGreat Dark Mother’s garden ofrenewal, and is also an attribute of the watchful, night-hunting owl that both serves and embodies her. The ashipu who calls upon the owl with wings of twilight sings, speaks, or plays an invocation that allows her to silence all of the infernal or spiritual ties of her target, pacts and bonds alike. System: The ashipu invokes the gift of the twilight owl, spending one blood point and rolling Manipulation + Occult, with a difficulty equal to the target’s current Willpower. If successful, the invocation causes a psychic or spiritual silence to fall across all bonds and pacts in which the target is involved — he can no longer issue commands to his bound spirits or servitor demons, nor can he receive communication or commands from any spirit or demon that holds him in thrall. Exceptional success (four successes or more) extends this effect to the Cainite at the other end of any blood bond in which the target is engaged. •••• Allah The youngestdaughter ofLilith andLuciferwasnamed “Night,” for the realm that would have been hers had she lived to maturity. Such darknessis also an attribute of the soft-pawed, sharp-clawed cat that warded the borders of D’hainuandprotectedthosewhodweltwithinthe Garden

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 88/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 87 of Renewal. The ashipu who calls upon the cat with the pelt of shadow sings, speaks, or plays an invocation that allows her to directly assault all of the lesser infernal or spiritual ties of their target, parting the bonds as with a swipe of deadly claws and disarming the target of their spiritual weapons. System:The ashipu invokesthe gift of the night-shadow cat, spending one blood point and rolling Manipulation + Occult, with a difficulty equal to the target’s current Willpower, foreach spirit or demon that the target holds enthralled as a servitor. Success frees the bound spirit or demon to do as it wills. Failure not only fails to free the spirit or demon, but also allows those entities to know precisely who attempted to sever those ties. ••••• Memo The firstborn and eldest child of Lilith and Lucifer was their daughter, named “Water” after her mother’s fond memory of both the crystal streams of lost Eden and the vast oceanic depths in which she took shelter after her expulsion. In the oceans, she bore the first of her many broods and emerged from her exile more powerful than before. Mighty and deep are the powers of that great pri- mordial realm, and mighty was the form that the Great Dark Mother took there. She lent the secrets and gifts of that form to her first child and eldest daughter, the drag- on whose wings blotted out and the moon and the sun and the stars, and whose scales shone with all the hues of the sea, greatest of all the purifiers. The ashipu who calls upon the dragon who weeps tears of salt sings, speaks, or plays an invocation that allows her to directly attack the principal infernal or spiritual pact of her target. System:Theashipu invokesthe giftofthe greatserpentof theocean,spendingonebloodpointandrolling Perception + Occult, with a difficulty equal to the current Willpower of the target. By so doing, she gains the knowledge of what impelled the target to enter into a bargain in which his soul would be forfeit. Each success rolled yields more detailedknowledge ofhertarget,thenature andstrengths of the pact, and any infernal investments or gifts that the targetpossesses.Spectacularsuccess yieldstheTrueName of the target’s demonic patron and the opportunity to directly engage it in a contested Manipulation + Occult (difficulty equal to it’s permanentWillpower) roll. Success on the part of the ashipu severs the bond between the infernalist and their patron; success on the part of the patron allows the bond to remain intact. Failure of any roll in this sequence allows the infernality’s patron to perceive the ashipu and derive substantial information about her through the contact.

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 89/232 “Shooting guns is hard,” I said. I put my sniper rie down and sat down on the sandbags, waiting for some response from Hastur. “You need to learn,” he said. He wore sunglasses even though it was evening. “There are many kinds of weapons in the Black Hand’s arsenal.” “I know that,” I shot back, just like I used to say to Ophelia. “Why is so much of my training all of you telling me things I already know?” “We’re not‘all of you,’ insolent whelp,” Hastur spat. “All of us. You are one of us. There are many ways to protect. You can obey, but sometimes we need a hand that can squeeze a trigger, Blake. At least try.” “Not right now,” the voice behind us said. I turned andlookedthoughIknewwhoitwas.Anahita entered the room, dressed as iffor a business meeting in a dark suit and trousers. “You’ll resume your training later. Blake, I need you to run interference on something happening down by South Street, if you will.” “Of course, Anahita,” I replied, picking up my gun. “She’ll never learn if you keep pulling her away,” Hastur called as we walked off of the roof, into the stairwell. “I’m not as bad as Hastur says,” I protested, my boots clomping on the steps as I descended the stairs. “That’s good, because he says you’re terrible.” Anahita sighed as she followed me down, walking down the middle of the steps as if she was making an entrance. “You’re going with Fergus and Dian.” “Fergus?” I asked. He was amage I had worked with one time before. “Dian is running the head, isn’t she?” “Well, you aren’t, obviously,” Anahita said. She ashed a smile at me, which was meant to drive home the point, not soften it. “Listen to Dian and come back straight away.” “Yes, Anahita,” I said. “As a matter of fact, give me your rie. I’ll put it away for you while you go meet up with them.” She held her hand out towards me and I unslung the gun from my shoulder, handing it over. “When you’re done, let Dian debrief you and then go along your merry way.” She walked past me on the steps, not bothering to look at me as she descended. “I will hear about how it goes, so do your best, Blake.” “I will,” I said. I opened the staircase door and walked to the meeting area, seeing Dian and Fergus already waiting. Fergus waved. “Glad to see you again, Blake,” he said, tightening his belt. “You ready to be our minion?” “IthinkKindredoutranksWiseOneonthis mission,” I said, taking the tools Dian handed me. “Don’t be so sure, Blake,”Dian scoffed as she zipped up her jacket. “Let’s get out of here. I want this done well before dawn.” We left the building and took the route mapped out for us, sticking to shadows and neutral or favorable streets. As we drew closer we split up, scouting the area ahead. I knew who we were headed towards well before we could see them. A shipping containerlanded on the dock with a soft thudofmetalagainstconcrete.Asmallcrowdgathered around the door, the oodlights of the docks and the other humans doing nothing to deter them from their desires. I could feel their hunger as they looked at the doors to the container, waiting for them to be opened so the crowd could sample the wares inside. Fergus did something. I didn’t understand what he did beyond knowing it worked. He signaled for us to proceed. Trusting in whatever magic he had performed, I slunk forward, slipping from shadow to shadow and watching from within the darkness. I could feel their hunger more acutely, and what set it off. Fear wafted from the shipping container like a scent off a summer flower, the garnish to many a Kindred’s appetite. Someone reached forward and grabbed a hold of the lock on the container and turned it, the high pierced shriek of metal against metal grating against my ears. The doors were only opened slightly, less than four feet wide, and the Camarilla Kindred all filed in. “Now,” I heardDian say from somewhere.I stepped out of the shadows and darted forward past Fergus, with Dian a few steps ahead. Dian leapt into the guard knee-rst, knocking him to the ground with a sick crack of his skull. I stood by the door while I waited for Dian to get back, the older vampire slipping in rst, drawing her weapons. No talking. Just shooting. The other Kindred who are here to buy react in different ways. Some press themselves against the shipping container. Some hide behind others, using them as shields. Some attack us. Allareshot.Bulletafter bulletexplodesoutofourguns, slowing them down. It gives us time to approach and nish them off properly. There are only six of them, so we take them out quickly. Thehumanshavecoweredinthebackofthe shipping container this entire time. I don’t blame them. I made

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 90/232 sure the undead are now actually dead as Dian spoke to the humans, quietly. I watched the door, making sure no one comes in and no one did. I looked back over my shoulder and saw the children among them start to stand up. They looked toward their parents as Dian ushered them to come forward. Dian said something to the remaining humans, nodding and answering one of their questions. Fergus returned with a van. We loaded the children in and Dian continued to speak to them in her quiet, assuring voice. I sat on the oor among them. They smelled dirty, as if they had been travelling a long time and needed so many things. “Where are we taking them?” I asked Dian. “To a new home,” she said with a smile. She reached over and tousled the hair of one of the children. The child smiled and blushed shyly. “What about their parents?” I asked. Fergus turned on the radio. “We can’t use the parents,” Dian replied. “They’re old and can’t be trained. But the young ones? They have a lot of potential.” “As what, food?” I asked. Dian just laughed at me. “What a waste,” Dian said, leaning back against the wall of the van. “No. If they were left with their parents, they would be deported or forced to work a menial job, the pathetic life of a kine. Instead, we can take them under our wing and train them up. Teach them. And make them happy.” She said something to one ofthe children. He smiled in response to whatever she said. I leaned back against the wheel well and watched her speak with all of them. We unloaded the children once we were parked. Some of them clung to each other nervously; siblings or relatives surrounded by us, the strangers. “Don’t worry,” I said to a small, brown-eyed girl who stared at me. “Safe. You’re safe here. Better.” She smiled slightly, the fear in her big brown eyes melting away. “Well,it’salwaysgoodtohavemorepotentialhelp.” Pim stepped forward and looked over the children. “Some of these look very strong. We’ll feed you and cleanyouupandgetyouinfresh things.Andthenyou will learn to work, will you not?” Pim smiled at the crowd of children before he spoke again, beckoning forthem to follow him. They all did.I watched as they all left, the little girl looking back at me. She looked like she wanted to know if it was all right. I nodded. I turned and headed back to the small cell I was allowed. I used it to sleep and change, when such times came. I pulled my black T-shirt off and threw it on the bed, pulling on my black button-up and buttoning it in the mirror. Aknockcameatmycell door.I cross the smallroom and opened the door, surprised to see Anahita there. “Good job, young Blake,” she said. “Very pleased with how you handled yourself. No one got a scratch on them. At least none of us.” I nodded and fnished buttoning up my shirt. “We got what we wanted.” “And what was that?” She sat on the edge of my bed, lookingupatme.It was strange tohaveAnahita sitting below me, looking up. “We wanted to stop the Camarilla from destroying those people,” I said. “We are saving them.” “You believe that?” she asked. “I do,” I said. Maybe I should have said it more quickly. “Inthe lastdays,theywill be saved,” I added. “All of us will,” she said, rising from the bed. She started for the door, walking past me as she did. “I am glad you will be saved as well, Blake. It is what you want, correct?” “I hope I am found worthy.” I said. “It would be a shame to have been chosen but fall short.” Anahita nodded and opened the door, slipping out of my room and into the hallway. It was better those children come to us, I told myself as I left the room and headed out of our sanctuary into the cold, black night. They did come to us… I saw them. I had heard what happened to some children taken in by the Black Hand, this group which was said to beneft both kine and Kindred alike. Some of it was good. Most of it was not. But the stories were inconsistent. One thing which was said over and over again: good servants are hard to come by. Sometimes it’s easier to raise one than to fnd one. What is better, to die on the streets or to live forever, suspended between lifeanddeath, servingthose true entitieswhichcame so far before us, who will one day look down upon us and judge who had been righteous and who had been wrong? For a fewblocks,I enviedthose children.Theywould be taught the way they should go from the start. Life would be easier for them, the chosen.

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8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 92/232 THE BLACK HAND: A GUIDE TO THE TAL’MAHE’RA 91 LegendsoftheTal’Mahe’Raareabstrusein theextreme. Even among the members of the True Black Hand, only a limited number can define the Sect’s arcane goals. This perhaps sets the Hand apart from the Camarilla, Sabbat, and Anarchs in that the aims of those three Sects appear largely transparent. Researching ancient lore discovered in buried cities, murdering enemies of the Hand in their havens, and delivering puzzling riddles to dark figures in shadowed rooms are merely the first steps toward excavating the depths of the Tal’Mahe’Ra agenda. It’s no secret the Hand recruits those vampires seeking forbidden answers to illicit questions, headhunting only the Kindred with a taste for the mysterious and the obscure. Only when such a vampire has shown years of trust and loyalty to the Tal’Mahe’Ra’s enigmatic edicts does he begin to pry apart the membranous layers of subterfuge coating the Hand’s true goals. A dominion summons a kamut to walk the border of theunderworldcityofEnoch, viewing the sinistertableau of tormented souls stretching across an infinite expanse of nothing. They are to walk until they can recognize pinpricks of light piercing the endless dark. They are to report to the dominion the exact formations these lights make, no matter the mental pains the vampire suffers during the observation. A qadi orders shakari to travel to Chicago, providing a portfolio containing information on a Kindred named Tamoszius. The shakari suspect the portfolio to detail an assassination order, but this vampire is already torpid. The orderisto eliminate all vampireswho may remember Tamoszius. Once done, the torpid body is to be brought to Enoch for interrogation. The shakari are to ask no further questions. A rawi encourages agents to trace the whereabouts of a Tzimisce known as Torrance. They are to take no fur- ther action beyond stalking the Fiend for a month and recording his every move. The rawi cites an infection in the vampire, but explains that more will become clear through studying this monster. Pilgrims into the heart of the Labyrinth are ravaged in number. Two members survive, dashing through Enoch to escape something they claim is pursuing them. They encounter anewrecruitbefore they cancommunicatewith anyone else, babbling about the Aralu, the throne, and the missing Antediluvian. They both crumble to naught but oily ash in seconds. “-Why me? -That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? -Yes. -Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

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Excavations into darkness are not ordered lightly, nor are they undertaken without due reverence for the hunt’s cause.TheTal’Mahe’Ra seekstounderstandsuchesoterica as the entities known as Asakku, the powers of debased sorcery such as infernalism, and the hidden levels of their owncity.ThenucleusoftheSectmaynotreveal every secret to those tasked with the pursuit of such clandestine aims, but they will reveal some. Little by little, the Tal’Mahe’Ra feeds its membership enough to keep the appetite in place while sating the needfor answerswhere they may be given. Those who follow the trail their Sect leaves may come away from their destination feeling a combination of enlightenment and terror. The Tal’Mahe’Ra hope for that mixture; the Wazir demand a healthy dose of fear of empyrean wrath and respect for one’s betters. Awe is the firststep on the path to absolute fealty; the Antediluvians requirenothing less.KnowledgeoftheAntediluvians,their history, and beliefs is the primary layer of the Sect’s skin. Deeper within is the revulsion and hatred a member of the Hand must feel for those who would rebuke the ordered might of the Clan founders. Only when a shakar has encountered, studied, and destroyed one of the gro- tesque Asakku or vile infernalists can he delve another layer deeper. The shakaris now submerged in the Hand’s structure. He can see both gods and devils around him. Vampires within the True Black Hand are forced to witness and understand the grace of humanity. Fewsuch Cainites cling to human morality after witnessing the horrors on show in both the Underworld and the world of the living, and this lesson allows further penetration intothe Hand’sintent.Humanity,however,is the beacon that calls Hand members back home. Whether viewing humanity through the crimson smokescreen of hunger or examining their souls in the wretched gloom of the Underworld,acknowledgingthe importanceofhumanity putstheseKindredinthedirectionofmeetingtheirmakers. Such isthe final hesitantfootstep in understanding the Tal’Mahe’Ra; its enemies, its allies, its motives, and its existence are nothing when the truth of Enoch and the Aralu are at hand. If an agent ever truly seeks to know why they were selected for membership in the Hand,they must be willing and able to traverse the turbulent pande- monium of the Labyrinth and the jet-black shadows of Enoch, presenting themselves at the tombs of the Aralu. Somewhomake thispilgrimage claimtohearthe voices of those within. Others say they hear nothing. More than one has felt compelled to open the tombs, but found the task impossible. The journey alone is one that rewards the participants with revelations of their role within the Tal’Mahe’Ra andtidings ofthe Sect’sultimate destination. Infernalism: The Long Crusade Infernalism is one of the first and oldest crimes prac- ticed by the descendants of Caine, a mournful fact not at all lost upon the Kindred of the Tal’Mahe’Ra. It is no surprise thatthebattle againstthe infernal anditsservants among the Children of Caine is one of the oldest and bitterest conflicts in which the Tal’Mahe’Ra is engaged. Infernalismfliesinthe faceoftheSect’sgoals ofprotecting the Children of Seth from the worst excesses of their own kind and protecting their own kind from the depths of depravity towhichthe trulyperverse cansink.Thepassage of millennia has changed the shape of the battlefield and many of the tactics used, and brought alliances previously considered impossible to the point of madness, but dis- tressingly, the long and costly struggle remains unaltered. A Brief History of Damnation Thus it is written, upon the stones of the Earth and the stars in the firmament, thus it is written and thus I have seen: In the beginning of things, all was dark. That darkness was alive and breathing and writhing, heavy with child and feeling within itself already the pangs of a coming, bloody birth. This I saw, as though watching from an impossibly vast distance: the great living darkness twisting as a woman upon the bed of her travail, its surface rippling as water into which a stone has fallen, as flesh into which a blow has been struck. The stones fell, the blows fell, and the ripples grew, fiercer and higher, until with a shriek that rent both the heavens and my senses, the darkness broke open, burst forth in a torrent that poured down, down, down to soak deep into the roots of all things... From the Analects of Zillah TherewerenoinfernalistsintheFirstCity.Thisis amatter of iron-bound faith for the Kindred of the Tal’Mahe’Ra, and the teachings of the ruwat, derived from the histories

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In such ways does the Sect maintain a clear ideological and cultural identity for its younger members and pacify the ancestral hatreds and biases of its elder members in one stroke, while also concealing those things that no one outside the ruling council wishes to be commonly known. One of those things is the extent to which infer- nalist corruption may have infested the pure and righteous First City itself. Some of the archive’s most ancient scrolls and tablets hint darkly of childer of the Third Generation who met their Final Deaths at the sharp end of Caine’s laws. Ac- counts of the accusations made against them and their trials under the Lawgiver himself bear the names of these childer so that none could cherish the belief they had been punished wrongly. In at least one of these accounts, consorting with un- clean things from beyond the dark borders of the world is least of the crimes being considered, and the name of the accused is utterly effaced, chiseled from the stones. The Del’Roh is aware of this, as is Izhim abd’Azrael, First Seraph. They are cur- rently debating whether or not they wish to share this intelligence with the Dominion of the Order of Moloch, and whether or not that knowledge will serve as help or a hindrance to his mission. recorded in the Guarded Rubrics, leaves this matter not sub- ject to interpretation or argument as so many others are. In Enoch, Caine the Lawgiver ruled with a just but firm hand over his childer and grandchilder, permitting them the freedom to seek both intellectual and spiritual nourishment within the strong frame of the laws and traditions he laid outforthem, barring from them allthatwas degenerate and defiling to body and soul. Some of their number may have chafed against this, and some may have resented it, but all obeyedthecommandoftheDarkFatheranddalliednotwith those forces that could befoul and devour the souls of even the purest and mightiest among men and vampires. It was not until after the Deluge — the Flood that came, at least in part, to wash away the sins of a world defiled by union with that which most unholy — and the rise of the Second City that evidence of the practice of infernalism entered into the histories of the Children of Caine. In the nameless Second City of Men, a more willful damnation than even the one supplied by the Embrace made itself known to the Children of Caine. The Third Generation, freed from the shackles of the Dark Father’s will by his disappearance, his abdication of authority to Enoch the First-Ruler, responded to their freedom as children often do — in unruly rebellion against all that they have been taught, and all they have been instructed to fear or avoid. Most infamous among their number — moreso even than the witch-priest Mekhet and the divine lunatic Malkav — was the one known as Ashur: scholar, wanderer, one time sorcerer-king, and relentless seeker after knowledge, unclean or not. Only Ennoia’s absolute loathing of civilization kept him from being the most far-traveledoftheThirdGeneration,forhe lefttheSecond City while its foundations were still being laid to wander the world scythed clean by the Deluge, from which the waters were still receding. Legend claims he traveled to the four corners of the world, questing for some strange unknown, andfindingmany things ofwonder andhorror on the paths he trod. He did not return until the Second City was near the pinnacle of its ascendancy, ruling all thatitsCainite residentssurveyed.He extractedtribute in wealthandslavesforthebloodingfromallofitsneighbors, and its glory nearly surpassed that of the First City. Ashur did not return alone; he brought with him a childe, a boy of such surpassing beauty of form and manner that he charmed even Ashur’s most worldly and jaded siblings. By Ashur’s own word, the boy was the only survivor of a wickedtribe of demon-worshipers,rescuedfromsacrifice. Here is where the tales diverge rather sharply, breaking into multiple, sometimes contradictory paths. Some of the stories of the fall of the Second City say that it was Ashur who let doom in by the front door, claiming that the childe he Embraced in the fell and nameless city of demonolaters was a poisoned gift of damnation. While beautiful andvirtuouswithout,theboywas corruptbeyond

8/17/2019 V20 the Black Hand a Guide to the TalMaheRa http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/v20-the-black-hand-a-guide-to-the-talmahera 95/232 94 CHAPTER THREE: THE DARK BELOW the ken even of hiswise and erudite sirewithin,spreading depravity and degradation among the Third Generation with his hell-spawned wiles and infernal magics. Other stories say it was Saulot that brought corruption into the Second City. Still otherslay the blame at the feet of one or moreofthenameless grandchilderofCainewhoperished in the fratricidalstrugglesfor powerthatfinally destroyed the Second City from within. All of these tales end with sending the survivors of the Third Generation and their descendants into diaspora far from the cradle of their ascendancy. According to the ruwat, only an externally corrupting force couldhave inducedsucha thoroughand absolute collapse of Cainite society. The Order of Moloch, a fairly recent addition to the ranks of the Tal’Mahe’Ra, holds a somewhat different perspective on the matter, one that has created some friction with the Sect’s lorekeepers. The Order believes, and teaches among its own ranks, that Ashur was a place, not a being. A great and ancient city, Ashur the Fallen, was built atop the tomb of an inhuman creature of im- mense, unholy power, whose siblings were worshiped by the nameless First Tribe that called that city their home. In the high mountains, while digging the foundations of their city, the First Tribe uncovered a creature entombed in the living earthitself, a being thatwrithed and shrieked and died in the light of the sun, and whose death-cries held soul-flaying knowledge. The First Tribe turned that knowledge into power and a tradition of cruelty so terrible that, even at its most dec- adent, the Second City paled in comparison. In war, the First Tribe invoked the power of their patrons to blight the lands of their enemies with pestilence, spreading plaguesthat murdered thousandswhere they stood. They summoned horrors from beyond the borders of reality to devour all who stood against them, offering libations of sacrificial blood, flesh, rapine, and slaughter in thanks for their gifts and to soothe their patrons in their rest. In peace,they slitthe throats of beasts and defiled innocents over the offering bowls, sported among themselves and with their slaves in manners both sublime and perverse, and indulged in extremes of pleasure and excruciation. In the end, their efforts were all for naught; a being far more powerful than any human, even a human calling upon the power of an entity older than time, came into their midst. One of the Third Generation of Caine came upon Ashurthe Fallen during one of the greatrites of the First Tribe and, observing them in their endeavors, was offended by their failures of imagination and elected to make a lesson of them.The Antediluvian slaughtered the entire population of Ashur, casting their bodies, whole and in pieces, into their own sacrificial pits. Only three survivedtocrawlfromtheWellof Sacrifice andthewreck- age of their homeland.Nergal fled the placewhere hewas found wanting and shamed, abandoning the remnants of the First Tribe and soothing his own wounded pride with the guise of godhood in his fortress-city Mashkan- shapir.Molochgatheredwhatremained ofthe FirstTribe and guided them away from the ruin of their homeland, choosing a subtler, saner course than his narcissistic and maddened sibling. Little is known of the nameless third. They may have been male, female, or a horribly twisted fusion of the two, or they may have been a beautiful and virtuousslave rescuedfrom torment and death, and taken to the Second City. The Idran preserve a similar tale: the story of the ancient city of Bhât, where dwelt in the earliest ages of man a tribe of demonolaters who called themselves the Nif’ur’en Daah. They lived according to an ethic of infernal predation, Awakened demon-wolves among the fold of sleeping and powerlesssheep,waiting only forthe strong to devourthem. They warred among themselves and with other magi in the long and forgotten eras of prehistory, emerging from this crucibleasthemanyandvariedcultsoftheNephandi,reviled and persecuted wherever they tread, and as ineradicable as their Cainite fellow travelers. Scattered Lupine lore teaches of an incarnation of the natural force of entropy, captured by its opposing force and twisted, tormented, and broken into many forms of destruction. One of these forms, which they call Eater-of-Souls, is the subtlest and most corrupting of them all, inducing those whom it influences to turn away from true and righteous ways of their own will, using their weaknesses of mind and spirit to devour all that they are from within. They call its servants the Dancers of the Black Spiral, for the sanity-breaking labyrinth where they receive their unholy initiation. Regardlessofthe story’sorigin,orthe excusesinfernalists make to justify their acts, the Tal’Mahe’Ra has only one reply to offer them. This Means War TheTal’Mahe’Rahasstoodagainstthedepredationsand depravities of infernalists and their patrons since before itsformal foundation of the Sect.When the Idran sought alliesin their effortsto find and secure Enoch against the Setites,they found them among Cainites already engaged in a struggle against a similarly malevolent undead threat. By the time the Idran met the Cainites with whom they would found the Tal’Mahe’Ra,the bloodwars againstthe Baali had gone on for literally thousands of years — since atleastthe time ofthe Second City, if notthe First.Nergal wasunmaskedforthepoisonouslydelusionalmonstrosity

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She spent the majority of two centuries deploying the forces at her com- mand against demonic redoubts, tearing open butchers’ nests and exposing them to the purification of fire. As their crusade againstthe infernal continued,however,they began to find signs that someone else was engaged in it as well— particularlywhen it came to bringing lowolder and more thoroughly entrenched cults and individuals. On at least four occasions, a kamut arrived at its target destina- tion only to find that destination already thoroughly and utterly undone: its Cainites destroyed, its mortal cultists slain, any portable artifacts removed, and any stationary artifacts ritually defaced in a manner that rendered them impossible to use as an infernalist ceremonial focus going forward.Moreimpressively,ifaWellof Sacrificewaspresent it was also destroyed, with any human remains removed and then scoured clean with elemental fire. Whoever the hunterorhunterswere,theydidnotsign theirkills, andthe Tal’Mahe’Ra found no indication that they were working at cross-purposes with any of their tools in the other Sects. In the early years of the 21 st century,the anti-infernalist column began receiving anonymousintelligence regarding the expansion of infernalist activity in northern Africa, fed to them through their remaining operatives within the Ashirra. The hunt was deployed in force, and during the course of their investigations, they uncovered several minor and one major nest, which they began disassem- bling with the precision and thoroughness demanded by Seraph Phaedyme. As the shakari closed in on the largest of the nests, however, they found that once again they were beaten to the killing blow — but, this time, the source of it was waiting for them, quite patiently, in the midst of the carnage of death-ash and cultist blood, the air thick with the scent of lightning above the blackened remains of the still gently smoking Well of Sacrifice. He greeted the commander of the kamut politely, gave his name as Sahar-Hanibaal, peacefully admitted to being an elder among the Baali, and requested an audience with their leaders among the Tal’Mahe’Ra. Let Them Kill Each Other In the waning years of the thirteenth century, the Baali did the Tal’Mahe’Ra and the entire world an enormous favor: they went to open, bloody war against each other. The Sect was not certain what precisely triggered such a violent schism, especially since it occurred in the Ashirra-domi- nated Levant. Both the Children of Haqim and the remnants of the Salubri warriors whetted their knives for the survivors. Not for the first time, the elders of the Tal’Mahe’Ra wished they possessed better insight into the motives and tactics of their ancient enemies. However, they were perfectly willing to observe from the outside, particularly when doing so yielded high dividends with little chance of loss. The location and defenses of the Iblii-al-Akbar, the great Well of Sacrifice concealed in Damascus, were betrayed to the Children of Haqim, and agents of the Tal’Mahe’Ra among their ranks managed to acquire and subsequently safeguard a treasure trove of infernal artifacts and lore. Chorazin the Damned, a site of bloodshed and horror beyond human reckoning for centu- ries, was rocked by a series of violent earthquakes that finished the destruction of the upper city and collapsed the physical structure of the lower city into itself. Assamite sorcerers who observed the event disclaimed any involvement in it, but they swore they heard the voice of an ashipu singing praise-songs to the servants of the Annunaki as they devoured the black city whole. In the wake of Chorazin’s collapse, the conflict seemed to wane — the survivors melting away into the Levantine shadows, some pursued and destroyed, others making good their escape. For centuries thereaf- ter, the Baali nearly ceased to exist as an organized bloodline, much less as an organized threat. Nearly. they acted openly as a bracing support in the other. By the time their attention turned again to their ancient enemies, those foes had taken the opportunity to reorganize and, to some extent,regain theirstrength.Theywould likely never be as mighty as they were in the nights when they basked in the worship of their demented cults, but what they had

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He had, they were forced to admit, a rather substantial tolerance for both physical and mental discomfort. They also grudgingly conceded that he did not appear to be interested in lying to them, which they dutifully reported to the entire Wazir council andtheDel’Roh,recommendingthatthey receivehimfor a formal audience and hear what he had to say. Brought before the Wazir and the Del’Roh in thauma- turgically forged bonds that compelled him to speak no falsehood, Sahar-Hanibaal told him why he had sought them out: he felt he had no other choice, and the danger had grown too great to refrain from seeking outside assis- tance. He spoke of ancient lost city — not Qal’at Sherqat, the city mortals called Ashur, but the true city, the fallen city,the home of the First Tribe from which the Baali had sprung, lost no longer. He spoke of the first great Well of Sacrifice, the Maw of the Sleepers, lost for ten thousand years if not longer, and how it should have fallen into dust and silence without blood and flesh and pain to sustain it. When it was found in the cradle of the high mountains,itwasneitherdustnorsilence,but thrumming with a hideous dark power that rivaled that of Knossos and Chorazin, with something pulsing within it, changing, becoming. He spoke of the lone survivor of his Order who escaped what surged forth to pursue them — escaped, but not unmarked, not intact, not sane. She begged for the peace of Final Death, and he could not be certain that he had truly granted it even as she crumbled to ash in the sunrise, bound in the scriptures of Earth and Heaven to see her soul set pure and free. He told them of the Order of Moloch and their own centuries-long hunt to rid the world of the infernal taint unleashedonitbyhisown foolishkin.Thesekinhadcalled on half-known names and half-understood pacts, and sold whatthey shouldnotforthe sakeof theirown venality. He cursed those same fools who stirred the sleeping Children of the Outer Dark in their prisons and pushed everything closer to the edge of dissolution in their stupidity. Finally, he begged for their help in finding what was left of Ashur again, and its Well, before what gestated within it could be birthed into a world ill-prepared to meet it. He offered himself and the services of his Orderto their own struggles, in the hope of preventing a calamity beyond imagination. The debate that followed among the Wazir and the Del’Roh was long, and bordered on the acrimonious. Phaedyme, already aggravated by the willingness of her fellow Seraphs to hear the honeyed poison of a Baali’s lies in the very halls of Enoch, ardently and immovably opposed any cooperation and brusquely expressed her shock and horror that he was not yet dust. She was not alone in her assessment, though others were more diplo- matic about it, and still others pointed out the relatively recent history of the Baali at war with themselves, which the Tal’Mahe’Ra itself had witnessed almost firsthand. Each rawi was summoned to offer historical context and supply specific references in support or refutation of the informationtheyhadbeenoffered.Anumberofdisturbing detailsemerged,bothfromthewritingsof theancientsand morerecentintelligencereportsfrom operativesdeployed in the field, which only fanned the flames of the debate. The qadis were summoned to offer their wisdom and to help soothe fraying tempers. The convocation, now less a debate than an argument among powerful, wrathful elders, dragged on for thirteen nights, and might have dragged on for thirteen more when Izhim abd’Azrael left the council chamber where the Wazir held court and summoned Sahar-Hanibaal to a closed-door audience in his private chambers. Nooneknowspreciselywhat passedbetweenthem—no one was bold or suicidal enough to attempt to intrude — but when the First Seraph emerged hours later, he threw his support behind the proposal to claim the Order of Moloch for the service of the Tal’Mahe’Ra and aidi it in its endeavors, helping to craft the protocol by which the Order’s members were inducted into the anti-infernalist column. Seraph Phaedyme stopped just short of accus- ing him of treason against the Tal’Mahe’Ra before the Del’Roh, and refused to accept the Order of Moloch under her command. Thus, it remains a knife in the hand of Izhim abd’Azrael, who does not appear to find that burden of responsibility onerous at all. Weapons in the Fight The anti-infernalist column is the task force carrying one of the permanent and ongoing crusades that the Tal’Mahe’Ra supports, devoting significant strategic and tacticalresourcestotheeffort.Consistentbackinghaswaxed and waned over the centuries in close correlation to the

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At least one of these kamuts is on station in Enoch at all times, ready to be deployed to the living world at a moment’s notice; the other four are embedded, whole or in parts, within the territories claimed by the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the Ashirra. In addition to the several kamuts inserted into the vari- ous Sects, the anti-infernalist column has also recruited an assortmentofagentsamongCamarilla,Sabbat,andformally unaligned Cainites. This broad network helps gather and disseminate information concerning infernalist threats before they develop and during action taken against them. E Division isthe brainchild of former Tremere Justicar Karl Schrekt. A former demon hunter, Schrekt formed E Division to investigate paranormal occurrences outside the norm or experience of most Kindred. The Camarilla Hand has since recruited one of the E Division Archons, who has formed a standalone task force within the divi- sion devoted explicitly to investigating infernalist activity within the ranks of the Camarilla and demonic activity in general.ArchonIphegeniaMcClellanhassince sought and received permission to make contact with the Order of Josiah, theCamarilla’s own small butdevoted division of infernalist hunters.The Josians are fewand scattered, but their knowledge and experience would be an invaluable addition to the cause. The Order of the Star of Morning is neither a branch of the Tal’Mahe’Ra nor a tool of it, but rather an ally of centuries-long standing. Founded in the 13 th century by adherents of the Via Adversarius, they are an order of militant hunters dedicated to rooting out the infernalists within their own philosophical brotherhood. Many of them are now Autarkis elders of considerable personal power, including their founder, Gabriel de Cambrai. Cambrai is a Toreador whose artistic focus (his juniors sometimes claim with bland amusement) is making infer- nalists produce genuinely pleasing screams. Others are at least nominally attached to the elder Camarilla domains of Old Europe or to the more settled Sabbat territories in Central and South America, where they possess some contact with followers of related Paths. The Sabbat Inquisition would be a more useful tool if theTal’Mahe’Ra did not have to exertso muchcarewhen dealingwiththem.TheInquisitionbelieves,correctly,that there is more to theBlack Hand than meetsthe eye; it also believes,incorrectly,thattheBlack Handworshipsinfernal powers. No element of the Sabbat Inquisition is directly under the control of the Tal’Mahe’Ra’s anti-infernalist column, much to the irritation of Seraph Phaedyme. She wishes her agents could do more than gently prod suspicions in the direction of genuine infernal threats and away from paranoid delusions regarding the Hand. TheOrderofMolochisarelatively recentandreluctant additiontotheTal’Mahe’Ra’sarsenal.TheOrder consists entirely of Baali descendants of the Methuselah Moloch the Defiler and Cainites of the Old Clan Tzimisce who sheltered and protected them for centuries. They are militant adherents of both the Via Hyron and the original ethics of their bloodline, making use of inhumane ritual practices to soothe the demonic entities known as the Children of the Outer Dark, thereby preventing them from awakening from their nightmare-raddled sleep and devouring the world. The Order was founded in the 13 th century during the bloody conflict between the would-be shaitan Azaneal, hisfollowers, and the unimpressed Baali eldersoftheLevant.This conflictledtothedestructionand subversion of no small number of previously unassailable nests, broken by the dark powers resident in Chorazin that Azaneal commanded. The Order’s first action as an organizedentitywastodiscardthe ViaHyron’sprohibition against blood sorcery. They invoked the teachings of the ashipu to collapse the ruins of Chorazin in on themselves and trapped Azaneal and the bulk of his brood in a prison wardedwithholy fire andsacredearth.They subsequently turned their attentions on any of his debased bloodline that managed to escape their sire’s fate, and expanded their operations in an effort to stamp out the infernalist errors promulgated by decadents and fools. Centuries of covertwarfare followed;sometimes bloody, sometimes subtle, but always costly to both sides in the struggle. Elder Baali infernalists were required to become ever wilier to avoid final destruction at the hands of their coldlyefficient,highlyknowledgeableblood-kin.The Order of Moloch found its resources becoming unsustainably stretched with every member who fell in battle. They accumulated the most complete library of knowledge and artifacts in the world regarding the Children of the Outer Darkandinfernalismingeneral,buttheirranksofmembers

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In her remaining lucid moments,she revealed thatthe impossibly ancientruins of the First Tribe’s city had been found, and something ma- levolent and powerful beyond human comprehensionwas gestatingwithinitsrevitalizedWellofSacrifice.Believinghis hunter’s report, the Order’s commander put his affairs in order and took the risk of contacting the Tal’Mahe’Ra,the only Cainite organization he believed capable of taking the threatseriously and, perhaps, beingwilling to listen tohim. TheOrder andtheTal’Mahe’Rahave sincemade common cause.Sahar-Hanibaalhasbeengrantedthecourtesyrankof dominion, fitting to his age, personal power, and mastery of the Order, and he resides in Enoch as an adviser to the Del’Roh and the Wazir council. The protocols developed to insure that the Order of Moloch is not playing some deep game of treachery are likewise invested in him: he accepted a full blood bond to the Del’Roh, who functions as his personal patron within the ranks of the Tal’Mahe’Ra, and further thau- maturgic safeguards that bind far more than his will to SeraphIzhim abd’Azrael.Every member ofthe Orderwas required to accept the blood bond to a patron within the Tal’Mahe’Ra who wasn’t of the anti-infernalist column. The relative shortage of volunteers for such a duty has led to a concentration of the Order’s members around a small pool of domitors primarily from the Old Clan Tzimisce or the True Brujah, bloodlines with whom the Molochim have a shared history of non-hostile relations. Seraph Phaedyme flatly refused to accept the Order into the ranks of the hunt, and ordered the Cainites under her command to keep their distance. The Del’Roh has thus far elected not to consider this behavior on her part unseemly defiance, though that may change should the situation deteriorate. As matters stand, a subtle but un- deniable tension exists between Seraph Phaedyme (who commandsthe anti-infernalist column) andSeraphIzhim abd’Azrael(who commandsthe deployment ofthe Order ofMoloch).Thistensiondoesnot bodewellforlong-term peace between them. Crowsong is alsorelatively new, andenormously secret, developmentinthe arsenalofthe anti-infernalist column. The sixthpermanentkamutinthe columnisalsoanexper- iment of extraordinarily dangerous and heretical nature. Composed entirely of dedicated infernalist hunters with many centuries ofservice totheTal’Mahe’Ra among them, the members of Crowsong have volunteered to risk their unlives by learning to use their enemy’s weapons against them. Millennia of infernalist hunting have yielded a vast collection of unholy grimoires and demonic artifacts, which Seraph Phaedyme decided to put to practical use. The Cainites who comprise Crowsong are the only au- thorized practitioners of Dark Thaumaturgy within the Tal’Mahe’Ra, selected for their unswerving loyalty, the purity of their righteousness, and their ironclad force of will. Allof these traits are required to truck with demons, if only to reduce the chance thatthe entire anti-infernalist column might be annihilated in the face of a truly over- whelming enemy. The Del’Roh would never have authorized such a stratagem, and so Seraph Phaedyme did not crave her permissiontoenactit.The veryleastshe,andthemembers of her secret kamut, could expect should their efforts be discoveredis a traitor’sbrandanda summaryFinalDeath. At least part of the Seraph’sresentmentof the acceptance of the Order of Moloch derives from the risk they pose to her own loyal hunters. If the Baali recognize the marks of Dark Thaumaturgy within the anti-infernalist column itself, it will set in motion a chain of events that will end in blood, ash, and tragedy. Dark Thaumaturgy: The Devils’ Brew Until recently, the Tal’Mahe’Ra’s practical knowledge of Dark Thaumaturgy has focused on understanding rather than practice. Their studies covered recognition of the signs and symbols, subtle or otherwise, employed by the forbidden blood art’s practitioners and the effects that sorcery has on the stability of reality in its immediate vicinity, as well as upon the sorcerer herself. Under the direction of Seraph Phaedyme, one kamut of the Sect’s dedicatedinfernalisthuntershasundertakena secretstudy of the art itself, as the crusade against the infernal stands on the precipice of becoming far more deadly. Unfortunately, many of the eldest members of the Tal’Mahe’Ra cannot take diabolism as it is practiced by younger Cainites seriously, regarding it as the decadent and self-indulgent misbehavior of spoiled childer in need of correction rather than a soul-devouring evil in